
'lass j/jfj* 



uk^ih^ 



-o n 



FRKSKXTED UY 



ABBREYIATED 

HAND-BOOK 



OF 



VIRGINIA. 



Published by the 

STATE (BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



1897. 



^•■> rX 



V 






e>' 






^■ 



71280 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



First Congressional District, A. J. McMath, 

Onley 



Second 

Third 

Fourtli 

Fifth 

Sixth 

Seventh 

Eighth 
Ninth 

Tenth 



..'/* 



R. L. Henley, 

WilHamsburg. 
A. S. BuFORD, Pres., 

Richmond. 
R. M. Mallory, 

Smoky Ordinary. 
Jno L. Hurt, 

Hurt's Store. 
W. W. Brand, 

Catawba. 
J. K. McCanx, 

Stephenson. 
0. E, Hine, Vienna. 
H. C. Stuart, 

Elk Garden. 
J. R. Kemper, 

Fisherville. 



Commissioner of Agriculture, 

Thomas Whitehead, Richmond. 



S ABBREVIATED HAND BOOK 

—OF— 

VIRGINIA, 



This little pamphlet is issued by the Board 
of Ag;Ticulture to furnish inquirers for Virginia 
lands and investments, some Yaluable, gen- 
eral information in a compact form as to the 
location, condition and resources of each 
county in the State. 

By addressing the member of the Board for 
the District in which the count j^ is situated, 
inquirers will be furnished with the address of 
reliable persons livuig in the county about 
which specific information is desired. 

FIRST DISTRICT. 

A. J. McMath, Onley. 

This District is situated in the Tide Water 
section, immediately on the Chesapeake Bay 
and near the mouths of the largest rivers in 
the State, and contains thirteen counties. 

ACCOMAC 

Is the northernmost of the two counties be- 
longing to Virginia on the "Eastern Shore" 
Peninsula. It contains 252,945 acres of land, 
and a. population of 27,277. It is about forty 
miles long, with an average width of ten 
miles; the Atlantic Ocean bounding it on the 
east and the Chesapeake Bay on the west. 
There are numerous arms and inlets from 
both, extending into the main, and a chain of 



islands on the ocean side acting as break- 
waters to the higher lands. The salt air from 
the surrounding sea and the high temperature 
of the gulf-stream make the climate milder and 
less liable to frost than other localities much 
further south. 

The State weather service of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, at Bird's Nest, reports 
monthly average temperature for year ending 
30th November, 1892, 58.1°; monthly total pre- 
cipitation for the same period, 46.80 inches; 
average monthly precipitation, 3.90 inches. 

The soil of this section is alight sandy loam, 
warm andeasil^^ tilled; the sub-soil is red clay. 
Corn and oats were long the staple crops of 
the Eastern Shore; but with the unsurpassed 
facilities for marketing small fruits and vege- 
tables, the latter industry has come to be the 
principal one. This region is one of the prin- 
cipal market gardens for the great cities of the 
north The climate is pleasant and salubri- 
ous, the salt air being wafted over the Penin- 
sula from almost every point of the com- 
pass. 

Transportation communication with mar- 
ket is by steamboat and sailing vessels. A 
fine line of steamers plies regularly between 
this county and Baltimore. In this way the 
staple crops, thesAveet and Irish potatoes, the 
onions, peas, cabbages and other vegetables, 
and the small fruits, are sent to the markets of 
Baltimore, Philadelphia aud New York, bring- 
ing an annual return to the i)roducers of a 
million and a half of dollars. 

In addition to these facilities, the New York, 
Philadelphia and Norfolk railway from Del- 
mar, on the dividing line between tlie States 
of Delaware and Maryland, to Cape Charles 
City, near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, and 
thence making the city of Norfolk by a line of 



fast and elegant steamers, completes the chain 
of the great short line, north and south, and 
lessens the time of transit some ten hours be- 
tween New York and points south, and puts 
the truckers and fruit-growers of this Penin- 
sula in close communication with New York 
and Philadelphia. The road is admirably lo- 
cated along the central line of this county and 
Northampton, almost an air line, with a max- 
imum grade of less than ten feet, first-class 
steel rails and an equipment unsurpassed. 

No county in the State has improved more 
rapidly than this within the last few years. 
The building of the New York, Philadelphia 
and Norfolk railroad is quietly but rapidly 
and surely working out its destiny, which is 
to be the vegetable, fruit, fish and shell-fish 
supplying section for the great cities of the 
country. 

Game especially water fowl, is plentiful, 
and all the birds of Ti- '.ewater Virginia found 
in the forest, fields and swamps are to be 
found in Accomac. 

Number of public schools : White, 79; col- 
ored, 22; total, 101. There are several fine pri- 
vate schools of high grade. 

Churches of four or five denominations are 
numerous. 

County levy : Tax for county expenses— 50 
cents capitation tax and 20 cents on the $100 
assessed value of real and personal property. 

NORTHAMPTON 

Occupies the southern end of the Eastern Shore 
peninsula. It is thirty miles long, with an aver- 
age width of only about five miles, and contains 
113,255 acres of land. Population, 10,.313. 

The soil is a sandy loam with a sandy clay sub- 
soil — suflicient clay to hold manure and sufficient 
sand for drainage. 



6 

The crops principally cultivated are corn, pota- 
toes, both sweet and Irish, and onions; and since 
the opening of the railroad, peas and berries. The 
county is well adapted to general trucking and 
fruit culture. The largest and one of tne most suc- 
cessful truck farms in the iState is located at Cape 
Charles. Gross sales of trucks from this farm for 
one year have reached $80,000. 

The climate is temperate, the almost insular po- 
sition giving Northampton an exemption from vio- 
lent extremes of heat and cold. Weather stations are 
at Cape Charles and at Bird Nest, in this county. 
Bird Nest reports average annual temperature 58.1°; 
annual rainfall, 46.80 inches; avera^>e monthly, 
3.90 inches. Cape Charles, for ei^ht months to 
September 1st, gives annual temperature 55 81° 
rainfall, 45.84 inches. 

Black and English walnut and pecan grow and 
bear well here. 

This county being below the isothermal line of 
60°, olives, figs, pomegranates and the scupper- 
nong grapes have fruited here. 

The southern terminus of the great railroad, con- 
necting with Philadelphia and New York, is in 
this county, at Cape Charles City on the Chesa- 
peake Bay, where a steam ferry connects with 
Norfolk and the South, and a great impulse has 
been given to agriculture, and trucking in partic- 
ular, by the facilities afforded by the railroad, 
which passes through the middle of the county for 
about twenty miles. Two crops have been greatly 
increased by the facilities furnished by this road — 
to-wit, sweet and Irish potatoes. 

Northampton is reported as producing the lar- 
gest crop of onions in the State to the acre — to-wit, 
nine hundred bushels. 

All the farms are within a short distance of a 
railroad depot or a water-course, making the trans- 
portation to market easy and convenient. 

Fish, oysters and wild fowl form a source of 



cheap and luxurious living, and large revenues to 
the inhabitants of these counties. There is no 
part of the country cheaper to live in than this. 
About one-fifth of the population of the Peninsula 
is engaged in planting oysters and fishing, from 
which a good living is ea.sily made. 

Wild fowls are abundant. Ducks, geese, brant, 
in all their varieties, furnish sport and profit for 
the hunter. 

Churches are numerous and public schools are 
convenient Number of public schools, 33— white, 
21; colored, 12. 

The county roads are well located and naturally 
good, and in many places are being considerably 
improved. 

County taxes : For county schools, 5 cents on 
$100 value of property; district schools, 15 cents; 
public roads, 5 cents; county levy, 20 cents; total, 
45 cents. 

LAN(JASTER 

Was formed in 1651. It lies on the North bank of 
the Rappahannock river, where it debouches into 
Chesapeake bay. Northumberland and Richmond 
counties bound it on the North. Area of the 
county, 80,486 acres. Population, 7,191. 

The surface is mostly level, with some rolling 
lands. The soil is a sandy and clay loam, pro- 
ducing good cropg of corn, wheat, oats, vegetables 
and fruits. The lands are easily improved, and, 
with clover and peas and the judicious use of fer- 
tilizers, are easily kept productive. Corn is the 
chief farm crop, but some of the lands produce 
large crops of wheat. 

A large area, consisting of apples, peaches, pears, 
apricots, plums, etc., of this county is in orchards. 
Cheap communication with Northern markets and 
proximity to the National Capitol, make early fruits 
and berries profitable. 

Ship and other timber, and a large quantity of 
cord-woe d, is shipped from this county; and im- 



mense quantities of oysters are shipped annually, 
and the fisheries support a number of people. 

Spring lambs, which can be raised early in this 
county and sent North, have caused increased in- 
terest in sheep. 

It is drained by numerous creeks running from 
tijB interior of the county, tributaries of the Rappa- 
hannock river and of Chesapeake bay. There are 
two steamers plying between Baltimore and Fred- 
ericksburg, which touch at various landings in this 
county four times a week; and one steamer be- 
tween Baltimore and Piankatank, touching at a 
wharf at Dymor's creek. 

The health of the county is good. Consumption 
is rarely heard of. Average temperature about 
58°; rainfall about 46 inches. 

Number of public schools, 25; white, 15; colored, 
10. 

Rate of county taxation: For countj^ purposes, 
45 cents on the $100 value of property; schools, 15 
cents; district schools, 15 cents; county roads, 15 
cents; district roads in three districts, 5 cents 

RICHMOND 

"Was formed in 1692 from old Rappahannock; 
is tbirt}'' miles long and seven miles 
wide. Area, 117,252 acres. It lies on the 
north bank of Rappahannock river, which is 
navigable here for large vessels, and is watered by 
Rappahannock river, Moratico creek, Farnham 
creek, Totrisky creek, Rappahannock creek, Men- 
okin creek and others. 

Population, 7,146. 

The low-grounds are very fertile, producing fine 
crops of corn, wheat, oats and vegetables. The 
upper or forest lands are rolling, and the soil is a 
light sandy loam with red-clay subsoil, susceptible 
of a high state of improvement, and is worth, at 
present prices, from $5 to $25 per acre. 

This is reported to be a good grazing country. 
Sheep especially are found very profitable. 



The river along its front abounds in fish and 
oysters, the shad and herring fisheries being very 
productive and profitable. The oysters are of 
choice quality, as are the fish and wild fowl. 

The water-fowl are: Ducks, geese, swan, brant, 
teel, etc. 

Marsh birds: Sora, woodcock, marsh hens, 
snipe, reedbird, etc. 

Field birds: Partridges, pigeons, doves, larks, 
robins, etc. 

Wild turkeys are plentiful. 

Wild animals are: Deer, fox, raccoon, opossum, 
squirrel, hare, otter, mink etc. 

There are 38,843 acres in timber of oak, hickory, 
chestnut, pine, cedar, walnut, poplar, dogwood 
and maple. 

There are vast quantities of marl in this county 
(both blue and white marl), which has been used 
with good effect in improving the land. 
Warsaw, the county-seat, is situated about the cen- 
tre of the county, six miles from the river, and 
contains a population of about 300. 

There is daily communication with Baltimore, 
Fredericksburg and Norfolk by a line of fine 
steamers. 

Average temperature for 1892 about 53°; rainfall, 
about 42 inches. The State weather service, at 
Warsaw, by the State Board of Agriculture, only 
began in November, 181)2. 

Kate of county taxation: For county expenses, 
40 cents on the $100 value of property; county 
schools, 10 cents; district schools, 10 cents; road 
tax, 5 cents. A capitation tax of 50 cents is added. 

The winters are mild, cultivation of soil easy and 
cheap, living abundant and easily obtained, and 
access to market very convenient. Altogether this 
is a very desirable county. 

NORTHUMBERLAND 

Is one of the five counties constitatingthe "North- 
ern Neck," which lies between the Potomac and 



10 

Rappahannock rivers and Chesapeake bay. North- 
umberland county was formed in 1648. It is 
twenty.five miles long and about seven to eight 
miles wide, and contains 118,197 acres. Popula- 
tion, 7,885— males, 4,065; females, 3,820; white, 
4,795; colored, 3,090. 

The surface is mostly level. The soil on the 
streams is a sandy loam, with clay subsoil, and is 
very well adapted to wheat. The ridge lands have 
a light soil, and are generally thin, but easily im- 
proved. The farm crops are corn, wheat, oats and 
green vegetables for city consumption. 

A correspondent in this county writes, September 
3, 1886: "Our lands produce clover luxuriantly. 
Recently the farmers have been saving clover seed, 
and there will be as much as twenty-five hundred 
or three thousand bushels of seed saved the sea- 
son, 1886." 

There are valuable fisheries in this county. * 'Fish- 
chum," or the refuse from fish-oil factories, is 
largely used as a fertilizer here, as well as in many 
other counties of this section, especially on wheat, 
with marked benefit. 

There are two marine railways on Wicomico 
river, where vessels are built and repaired with 
dispatch. Many hands are employed and a large 
capital invested in these enterprises. 

Almost every part of the county is accessible to 
water transportation by the creeks and estuaries 
from the bay and Potomac. 

The cities of Alexandria, Georgetown and Wash- 
ington are largely supplied from this county with 
melons, fresh vegetables, oysters, fish, wild fowl 
and poultry. 

Number of public schools, 36— white, 26; colored^ 
10. 

Churches of the various denominations are con- 
veniently located in the county. 

Rate of county taxation: Capitation tax, 50 cents, 
and about 40 cents on the $100 assessed value of 
real and personal property for all purposes. 



11 

WESTMORELAND 

Is bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock 
rivers, and counties of King George, Richmond 
and Northumberland. Average length, thirty 
miles; width, ten miles. Number of acres, 141,983. 
Population, 8,399. 

The surface is generally level, but broken and 
hilly about the sources of the streams. Soil good, 
light loam resting upon red cla}^ It is well wa- 
tered; pure springs abound, and very good well- 
water is in easy reach. Numerous tributaries of 
the Potomac penetrate inland. 

Corn, wheat and clover are the staple products. 
Winter oats are cultivated profitably. Potatoes, 
sweet and Irish, grow well. The soil is very fine 
for all varieties of vegetables, and trucking is in- 
creasing. Orchard-grass and timothy are being in- 
troduced; their cultivation and raising clover-seed 
for market are a decided success. 

Marl in many locations, marsh mud and oyster- 
shell lime are within easy reach of every industri- 
ous farmer. 

Many orchards of fruit— peaches, apples and 
plums — are found. There are several canneries. 

Increased attention is beiDg paid to sheep hus- 
bandry. Cattle do well; oxen often weigh 1,000 
pounds at four or five years old, fed in winter 
upon dry fodder only, and then upon the natural 
grasses of the county. 

A third of its surface is woodland. In many 
parts are found pine, four or five varieties of oak, 
hickory, cedar, chestnut, locust, poplar and gum. 

Lands are easy of cultivation; capable of sus- 
taining a population ten times as numerous as that 
it now has. 

Regular lines of boats give access almost daily 
to Washington and Baltimore. The inlets abound 
in oysters, fish and fowl. 

Good public. schools, 40; several private schools; 
churches, 29 — Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian. 



12 

County taxes : 50 cents capitation tax and 48 
cents on $100 value of property for all purposes. 

Monthly average temperature for 1892 to Novem- 
ber 30th, 58°; annual rain-fall about 43 inches. 

GLOUCESTER 

Was formed in 1661 from York. It is twen- 
ty-seven miles long and about eight miles wide, 
and contains 137.365 acres. Population, 11 653. 

It lies between Mobjack Bay and Yoik, and is 
watered by "Ware, Severn and North rivers and by 
numerous creeks. Piankatank river forms part 
of its northeast boundary. These streams give 
very extensive tidal waters, mostly navigable for 
large vessels, and filled with fish and oysters of the 
finest quality. 

The climate, owing to the presence of so many 
large bodies of salt water and the nearness of the 
ocean, is very mild in winter — snows rarely at- 
taining sufficient depth or remaining long enough 
for sleighing ; and the summer's heat is tempered 
by the sea breeze, which blows nearly every day. 
In the low grounds an abundance of good well 
water is procured at from six to twenty-five feet 
below the surface, while in the higher parts deli- 
cious springs bubble from the foot of every hill. 

No point in the county is very far from deep 
water. Bordering upon the rivers the land is low 
and alluvial, and, where properly managed, very 
productive. Running back of this the lands 
become higher, the soil of clay or sandy loam, with 
numerous rich flats along the many streams which 
flow through the upper portion of the county. 
Marl is found everywhere, underlying the lands 
of the low grounds at from two to eight feet below 
the surface, and cropping out of every hillside 
among the highlands. Gloucester was, before the 
war, one of the large wheat-growing counties of 
Tidewater. All the grains flourish here — corn, 
wheat, rye. oats and barley. The grasses, where 
proper attention is paid to them, grow to perfection. 



13 

Tlie attention of many of the people in the lower 
end of the county is being turned to trucking, to 
"Which the soil and climate prove admirably adapt- 
ed. Tobacco does well. Peanuts also have been 
profitably grown. As to fruits, few parts of east- 
ern Virginia produce them to greater perfection. 

The culture of fruit is rapidly increasing. Among 
the large fruits, pears prove the most profitable, 
and strawberries amoug the small. Grapes are 
beginning to be grown for market, and are paying 
well 

The county is, as a whole, healthy, the salubrity 
of the lower portions being unsurpassed. The 
lands are cheap. 

Owing to her great extent of water front, Glou- 
cester is more largely engaged in planting oysters 
than probably any of the counties; a very large 
proportion of her people are deriving a livelihood 
almost entirely from the water. Vast quantities 
of fish are taken in pound-nets and other devices, 
and shipped to the Northern maikets or converted 
into oil and fertilizers. 

The roads are excellent in the low grounds, and 
in the highlands are not so good, but being im- 
proved. 

Steamers to Baltimore and Richmond stop daily" 
at the various wharves on the York river, while- 
the country on'Mobjack Bay has a tii-weekly- 
steamer to Norfolk, which connects at old Point. 
with steamers to Philadelphia, New York, Boston 
and Providence, and new wharves are projected 
with daily steamers to Norfolk and Cape Charles 
City. A steamer also runs several times a week 
from the Piankataiik to Baltimore. This, together- 
with numerous sail vessels, provide cheap and suf- 
ficient transport for the various products of the 
lands and waters. A daily mail reaches every 
neighborhood. 

Tax for county purposes, not including schools, 
is 20 cents on $100 value of property. 



14 

Good schools in good school-houses, public and 
private, exist in every Eeighborhood. Number of 
,:public schools, 52; white, 25, colored, 27. 

Churches of the various denominations — Episco- 
pal, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian — are 
placed at convenient distances over the whole 
•^county. 

MIDDLESEii 

Was formed from Lancaster in 1675. It com- 
prises a strip of land about 30 miles in length, with 
an average width of five miles, lying between the 
Rappahannock and Piankatank rivers. It con- 
tains 80,829 acres of land. Population, 7,428- 

The whole county is underlaid with beds of mio- 
cene marl, which have been extensively used, with 
great benefit to the soil. Some of this marl is 
nearly pure carbonate of lime, analyzing 95 per 
cent. 

It is no longer questionable that the land of this 
county can be carried to the highest fertility by the 
use of these marls, using clover and cow-peas, 
which here grow luxuriantly, in a proper r. station 
of crops. Wheat, corn, oats, hay and trucks are 
the regular crops. Peaches, apples, grapes, apri- 
cots, pears and the smaller fruits and berries do 
well. 

On the rivers the elevation of the land is from 
ten to thii ty feet above tide-water — a mile or two 
back it rises to a hundred feet or more. The soil, 
varying in texture from sandy loam to the stiffest 
clay, is well drained, easily tilled, productive, and 
very improvable. Being very convenient to mar- 
ket (there are lines of fine steamers on both rivers 
bordering the county — time to Baltimore, eight 
hours, and freight low), Middlesex offers great in- 
ducements to truckers, fruit-growers and farmers. 
Fish and oysters abound. 

Society is good, and the people will welcome im- 
migrants. Lands are yet low-priced, but rising in 
value. 



15 

The public roads are level and easily kept in 
order, and the county will compare favorably with 
any Tidewater county. 

Timber is abundant, cheap and of excellent qual- 
ity. In colonial times there were potteries here, 
there being beds of fine potter's clay. 

Number of public schools, 28 — white, 15; col- 
ored, 13. 

Rate of county tax same as the State, 40 cents on 
$100 of real and personal property. 

Churches numerous. 

Average temperature 57°. Average rainfall 45 
inches. 

MATHEWS 

"Was created in 1790 from Gloucester, It is twenty 
miles long, and at its widest section about nine 
miles across— a peninsula, extending into the 
Chesapeake bay, united to the main land by a 
narrow neck of land scarcely a mile wide, so that 
its boundaries are almost entirely of water. It 
contains 53,515 acres. Population, 7,584. 

The surface of Mathews is almost a dead level; 
the soil light, easily worked and fertile. Corn, 
wheat, oats, grass, fruits and vegetables are largely 
produced. Lands sell from $5 to $.30 per acre. 

Mathews is famous for oysters and fish, which 
are a source of large revenue, and furnishing em- 
ployment for many of its inhabitants. 

Shell marl is found in many localities, and a 
species of peat well adapted to composting is found 
in the ravines. These and the abundance of fish 
suitable for fertilizers, together with its water 
transportation, make Mathews an admirable loca- 
tion for large fertilizer factories. 

Owing to its almost insular position, Mathews 
is swept by salt breezes, and is said to be very 
healthy — a most desirable location for settlers. 

Wild turkeys, geese, ducks, woodcock, part- 
ridges, sora and many other water and marsh birds 
are abundant. 



16 

It may be remarked that Mathews is among the 
most thickly-settled counties in the State, not reck- 
oning cities. 

Number of i^ublic schools, 34 — white, 23; colored, 
11. 

Churches of the various denominations are con- 
veniently located. 

ESSEX. 

Was formed in 1692 from Rappahannock county 
— the records of the original county remaining in 
its archives. It lies on the south side of the Rap- 
pahannock river, about forty-five miles northeast 
of Richmond, and is about thirty-five miles long 
and six wide; area, 160,667 acres. It is well 
watered by numerous tributaries of Rappahannock 
river, some of which are navigable. 

Population, 10,047. 

The surface of the county is generally level or 
slightly rolling. The river lands are, where 
properly drained, very productive and valuable. 
Back from the river the soil is more sandy, but 
productive. On Dragon Swamp, which separates 
Essex from King and Queen, are some fine wheat 
lands with a heavy, tenacious soil of great fertility. 
This county was once the seat of great wealth, and 
as then, still produces fine crops of corn, wheat 
and oats. Tobacco has been only to a small ex. 
tent, since, the war profitably raised. 

Clover and orchard-grass hay have increased 
greatly, a most gratifying indication of im- 
proved farming. Marl is abundant in many 
parts of the county, and has been applied with 
great benefit in days gone by. Gj'^psum and com- 
mercial manures are found to act well. Peanuts 
might be profitably cultivated. 

There are several large peach orchards in this 
county of ten or twelve thousand trees each. 
Melons and fruit are largely shipped from the 
various wharves along the river. 



17 

Rappahannock river is well stocked with fish 
and oysters, and is navigable to the city of Freder- 
icksburg, which is about fifty-five miles above Tap- 
pahannock, the county-seat of Essex, 

Wild animals: Deer, fox, raccoon, and opossum. 

The Weem's line of steamers run three boats a 
week to and from Baltimore, and a boat twice a 
•week to Norfolk. 

Rate of tax for county purposes: For county 
levy, 30 cents on $100 value of property; coun- 
ty roads, 10 cents on $100 value of property; 
county schools, 5 cents on $100 value of proper- 
ty; district schools, 15 cents on $100 value of 
property. 

Tappahannock, the port of entry for the district, 
has 700 or 800 inhabitants, a large sumac mill, 
canning-house, and a foundry and machine shop. 
This town was laid out on the same plan and on 
the same day that Philadelphia was. 

Number of public schools, 44— white, 23; col- 
ored, 21. 

There are six or seven denominations with 
churches in the county, and churches are numer- 
ous. 

KING AND QUEEN 

Was formed from New Kent in 1691. It lies be- 
tween the Mattaponi and Piankatank rivers, 
which, with th^ir numerous tributaries, drain this 
county, and make it one of the best watered in 
the State. It is about thirty miles long by ten 
wide, and contains 194,713 acres. Population, 
9,669. 

Eastern Virginia enjoys a remarkable exemp- 
tion from violent storms. A severe and destruc- 
tive wind is rare, and in Tidewater Virginia floods 
can do but little damage, owing to the fact that 
the lands are rolling and the rivers lie between 
high banks. Floods occasionally damage some of 
the flat lands on the upper portions of the rivers 
above tide- water, but the area liable to them is 



18 

very small. King and Queen needs only this de- 
scription. 

Average temperature, about 67°; average rainfall, 
about 44 inches. 

Gray marl underlies a large portion of the county 
and is very accessible, being dug from banks in- 
stead of having to be raised from pits. Some of it 
is very rich in lime, yielding upon analysis 70 to 
80 per cent, carbonate of lime. 

The river lands, which constitute a large part of 
the area, are very productive, and the inexhausti- 
ble beds of marl found here afford the means of 
permanent improvement. The staple crops are 
wheat, corn, oats, rye, hay, fruits and vegetables. 

The lands are variable in quality and productive- 
ness. Some are heavy and stiff, and well adapted 
to ■wheat, grass aud potatoes. A large portion, 
especially on the rivers, is light, but even these 
generally yield good wheat crops. Many of the 
farmers grow good crops of clover, timothy and 
orchard-grass hay. Some of the light lands pro- 
duce profitable crops of peas 

Some good tobacco is raised in the upper portion, 
and the cultivation is gradually extending, and 
may, in the course of some years, obtain over the 
whole county as it was one hundred years ago. 

The farmers are, to some extent, beginning to 
raise truck, chiefly Irish and sweet potatoes, to 
which much of the land is well adapted. 

Wild animals: Deer, fox, squirrel, hare, opossum, 
raccoon, ground-hog and polecat. 

Domestic fowl: Turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, 
guinea and pea-fowls, and pigeons. 

Wild fowl: Turkeys, ducks and geese. 

There are many good peach and apple orchards. 
Peaches, as a crop, are rather uncertain. The 
apple crop is more certain, and early apples are 
destined in the future to be a source of considera- 
ble profit. 

County taxes: 50 cents capitation tax, and 45 
cents on the $100 value of real and personal prop- 



19 

erty. Fourteen per cent, of the tax collected is for 
county schools. 

The forests contain white, red and Spanish oak, 
yellow pine, gum, sycamore, poplar, hickory, dog- 
wood, holly, walnut, persimmon, beech, birch, 
etc. 

Number of public schools, 48 — white, 27; colored, 
21. 

There are twenty churches of the various de- 
nominations. 

The Mattaponi river lies on the southwest side 
of the county, and is navigable almost up to the 
upper boundary. There is steamboat navigation 
as well as many sailing vessels. 

CAROLINE, 

Though classed as one of the Tidewater counties, 
is in part upon the primary or archfen formation. 
It was f.)rmed in 1727 from Essex, King and 
Queen and King William; is about twenty-eight 
miles long and twenty wide; contains 335,354 acres 
of land. Population, 16,681. 

It is drained by the Rappahannock, the Matta- 
poni, the Pamunkey and their tributaries, which 
are numerous, and is one of the best- watered coun- 
ties in the State. The various rivers and creeks 
give much bottom land (which is very productive) 
and fine water-power and mill-sites. 

The northern boundary of this county extends 
to within eight miles of Fredericksburg, and the 
southern to within twenty of Richmond city. 

The soil of the county is easily cultivated, readily 
improved. It produces winter wheat and corn. 
Red clover growls luxuriantly on the low^landsand 
improved uplands, and orchard grass and timothy 
are grown to a very considerable extent. Field 
peas are grown in great abundance, both as an 
invigorator to the soil and as a forage crop. Oats, 
both spring and winter, are successfully grown. 

Sweet and Irish potatoes are grown with a 
surplus for market, and all vegetable products 



20 

abound. The lands along the Richmond, Fred- 
ericksburg and Potomac railroad are peculiarly 
adapted to the trucking business. The facilities 
with which the markets of Richmond, Washing- 
ton, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York can 
be reached, make this portion of the county an in- 
viting and remunerative field for parties wishing 
to engagein this work. In the wide and productive 
Valley of the Rappahannock, large crops of corn, 
wheat, rye, clover and hay are raised. Stock 
farms are increasing. 

But to the growth of fine tobacco is a large por- 
tion of the soil of this county, more particularly 
and specially adapted. Nearly all classes of tobacco 
can be grown here successfully. 

"Bright" tobacco, also coal and flue-cured, has 
been successfully raised here. The experiments of 
some of our planters with this class of tobacco 
demonstrated beyond doubt by the quantity raised 
per acre, and the prices for -which it has sold, that 
bright tobacco can be profitably raised on much of 
the soil in this locality. But for the production 
of fine manufacturing chewing tobacco this 
county yields the palm to no other locality in Vir- 
ginia, nor, indeed, to that of any other State. 

All fruits thrive, and apples (especially the cele- 
brated winesap), peaches, pears, grapes, strawber- 
ries, etc., are grown, though chiefly as yet for 
home use. Blackberries, dewberries, huckleberries 
and black raspberries are abundant in the wild 
state. 

All varieties of small fruits have their wild or 
uncultivated varieties, and the native grapes have 
been proved by experiment to have fine wine- 
making qualities. There have been no experi- 
ments made by experienced wine-makers. 

The native live stock is being improved. There 
are stock-farms breeding Jersey, Guernsey, Red- 
polled and Short-horned cattle; Southdown, Cots- 
wold and Hampshiredown sheep; Berkshire and 
Duroc Jersey red swine, and improved poultry. 



21 

The dairy interest is fast gaining a hold on our 
people, and the ready sale found for gilt-edge 
butter in the markets of Richmond and Washing- 
ton affords ample encouragement. 

The climate of Caroline leaves nothing to be de- 
sired. The season during which work is sus- 
pended bein^ only a week or more in which ice is 
secured, the extremes of heat and cold are rarely 
felt, and the seasons are generally good. There 
is an exceptional absence of storms and blizzards; 
hurricanes and northers are unknown. The health- 
fulness of the county is largely insured by the 
abundance of pure, soft-drinking water, and mala- 
rial fever is rare where any sanitary precautions 
are taken by individuals, and there is an almost 
total exemption from typhoid and other dangerous 
fevers, so fatal in some sections. 

County taxation, 50 cents on $100 worth of real 
and personal property for all county purposes. 

Bowling Green, the county-seat, with a popula- 
tion of 500, is situated near the centre of the 
county, two miles from Milford station, on the 
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad, 
before mentioned. There are large male and 
female academies liberally patronized, which, to 
gether with the primary and graded free schools, 
afford ample educational advantages. 

Number of public schools: White, 43/ colored, 
31; total, 74. 

Monthly average temperature for 1892, 56°; total 
annual rainfall about 44 inches. 

SPOTSYLVANIA 

Was formed in 1720 from Essex, King William 
and King and Queen counties. It is twenty- 
three by seventeen miles in extent, and contains 
258,879 acres. Population. 14,233. 

The surface is mostly undulating, with much 
fertile bottom land on the numerous streams which 
form its drainage system. It lies between the 
Rappahannock and North Anna rivers, which 



22 

form, repectively, its north and south borders. 
The interior is watered by the numerous tribu- 
taries of these rivers, and of the Mattapoui. 

The wide-bottom lands on these streams pro- 
duce fine crops of corn, melons and vegetables; 
good tobacco is also raised in the county. The 
soil of this county varies greatly, much of the 
upland being of tenacious clay, while that of the 
bottoms is mostly of a light, sandy texture. 

The productions, besides those mentioned above, 
are wheat, oats, rye and grass. Large quantities 
of poultry, vegetables and fruits are sold in the 
Fredericksburg and other markets. Considerable 
attention is given to improved breeds of horses, 
cattle and sheep. Mr. A. P. Kowe has probably 
the largest and finest bred herd of Jerseys in the 
State. Mr. C. H. Pearson has a fine herd of red- 
polled cattle. 

The annual agricultural fair, held at Fredericks- 
burg, has done much to improve the live stock of 
the county. 

Dairying and poultry-raising, in connection with 
general farming, have increased, and are profit- 
able. 

Gold, iron and pyrites have been developed. 
Gold and pyrites are now mined and worked. 
There are quarries of granite and sandstone in 
operation. 

The timber consists of pine, oak, birch, poplar, 
willow, hickory, gum, etc. 

Besides water transportation, this county has 
two railway lines — the Richmond, Fredericksburg 
and Potomac railroad and the Orange and Fred- 
ericksburg Narrow Gauge railway to Orange 
Courthouse, where it connects with the Virginia 
Midland. 

Taxes: County levy, 63 cents on the $100 value 
of property, as follows: County expenses, 30 cents; 
county roads, 15 cents; county schools, 8 cents- 
district schools, 10 cents. 

Public schools, 52 — white, 33; colored, 19. 



23 

There are over thirty churches of the different 
denominations. 

Fredericksburg is the principal city, and is one 
of the oldest in the State. It has a population of 
6,000, and is located on the south bank of Rappa- 
hannock river at the head of navigation, with lines 
of steamers to Chesapeake bay and Northern cities. 

SECOND DISTRICT. 
R. L. Henley, Williamsburg. 

This District contains eleven counties sit- 
uated both sides of James River. 

PRINCESS ANNE 

Was formed in 1691 from Norfolk county, and lies 
on the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, ex- 
tendmg south to the North Carolina line. Area, 
139,070 acres. Population, 9,510. 

The surface is level. The soil a sandy loam, rest- 
ing on a yellow-clay subsoil, is easily tilled and is 
generally productive. The best lands are on Hol- 
land Swamp, Eastern Shore Swamp and on Back 
Bay. 

It would be hard to find lands more productive 
of corn and potatoes. 

The productions are corn, oats, potatoes, trucks 
and fruits. A large part of the county is devoted 
to truck farming, a ud great quantities of vege- 
tables and fruits are annually shipped io the North- 
ern markets 

Stock-raising is not much pursued in this county, 
except for dairy and family purposes, and this 
stock is of good quality. Most attention is paid to 
hogs and cows. There are two dairies in the 
county. 

Considerable attention is given to grapes, small 
fruit, berries and pears. Most fruits succeed 
fairly. 

The shipments of fish, oysters and wild fowl 
from this county produce a very large revenue to 
the citizens. The fisheries on Cape Henrj'- Beach, 



24 

Lynnhaven bay and river are very valuable. 
Lynnhaven bay oysters are renowned for their 
size and fine flavor. Fish are of every variety. 
Ocean, river and creek are full of them. The! 
sportsman can find abundance of wild geese, 
ducks, swan, and every variety of these, and of 
ocean fowls and birds. Sora, woodcock, snipe, 
martin, reedbird and blue- wing blackbirds are in all 
the marshes, and partridges, robins, plover, doves I 
and larks in the fields; and the woods are filled I 
with singing and ornamental birds. 

Deer, foxes, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, hares, 
otters and musk-rats are found in the county. 

The timber consists of oak, pine, gum, cedar^ 
cypress, elm, holly and persimmon. The Seaboard 
district, comprising the northeast angle of the 
county, is perhaps the best timbered region of 
lower Virginia. 

The transportation facilities are ample and con- 
venient to all parts. The ocean front is about 
twenty-three miles in extent; Back Bay and North 
River are both navigable, and comprise a great 
extent of water fronts in the southern part, while 
the northern portions have the Eastern branch 
and Elizabeth river, Lynnhaven river and the 
bay shore. Besides these facilities for market by 
water, there is the Virginia Beach railroad from 
Norfolk, passing- across the county to a beautiful 
and most attractive watering place called "Vir- 
ginia Beach," on the Atlantic shore, and the Nor- 
folk and Southern running through to the south. 
Public roads are fairly good v^here they have any 
attention. 

County tax by levy is 40 cents on the $100 of 
assessed value of real and personal property for 
county expenses. 

Number of public schools, 36— white, 24; colored, 
12. 

Twenty churches of different denominations are 
scattered over the county, mainly Methodist, Bap- 
tist and Episcopal. 



25 

The temperature and rainfall are about the same 
as Norfolk. 

NORFOLK 

Was formed in 1691 from Lower Norfolk. It is 
twenty-four miles long, with a mean breadth of 
nineteen, and stretches from the North Carolina 
line to Hampton Roads on t^ie north, with Eliza- 
beth river and its branches penetrating every part_ 
In the southwestern corner, partly in this county 
and partly in Nansemond, is the celebrated "Dis- 
mal Swamp," which, lying higher than the sur- 
rounding country, furnishes an abundant supply 
of the purest water, which can be carried to the 
cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. 

This large, and to a great extent undeveloped, 
if not unexplored tract of land, is covered with 
the most valuable timber. Pine, cypress, cedar, 
juniper and gum of wonderful value, interspersed 
with the oaks and other hard woods, are all around 
a navigable lake or bordering outlets into the 
waters at Norfolk. When cleared of timber, and 
where necessary, drained in the simplest manner, 
these lands exhibit the t*:reatest fertility. It is 
doubtful if any land in the United States can excel 
the Dismal Swamp in the production of corn and 
potatoes. 

The population of Norfolk county, including 
Norfolk city and Portsmouth, is now 77,038. 
Number of acres of land, 229,647. 

The surface of the county is level, the soil a 
sandy loam with clay subsoil. Nature seems to 
have designed it for a great garden, and it is 
rapidly being utilized in that way. Gardens and 
trucking farms are spreading in every direction 
around Norfolk and Portsmouth — soil, climate, 
market facilities, all concurring to give an unex- 
ampled impetus to the tracking business. Other 
crops can be raised— corn, oats, peanuts and other 
field crops. Communication with all the great 
cities north of Virginia is now rapid and easy. 



26 

and freights are cheap. The New York, Phila- 
delphia and Norfolk railroad, shortening the time 
to the great markets by five hours, has giveu a 
great impetus to market gardening. Early vege- 
tables and strav^berries of the finest qaality are 
shipped in immense quantities and bring a large 
amount of money into this county and those ad- 
jacent. Perishable fruits and vegetables can be 
gathered in the evening and placed in the New 
York market by sunrise next morning. 

Norfolk is celebrated for the excellence and 
quantity of the oysters and fish brought to its 
market, and for the abundance of game. 

Public schools: The county of Norfolk has 80 
public schools — white, 40; colored, 40. Ports- 
mouth has 22 — white, 15; colored, 7. 

Norfolk and its twin sister, Portsmouth, are 
rapidly growing in importance. Lines of steamers 
to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, 
besides those running inland to Richmond, Smith- 
field, Newport News, and those across the bay to 
Cherrystone and Cape Charles City, and by the 
canal to Currituck, throng* the fine harbor. The 
foreign trade of Norfolk, too, is considerable, and 
increasing, as Norfolk has become a great cotton 
port — the third in the Union. (For full descrip- 
tion and statistics, see titles "Cities'' and "Trans- 
portation.") 

The Norfolk and Western, the Seaboard and 
Roanoke, the Atlantic and Danville, the New York 
Philadelphia and Norfolk, the Southern, the Nor- 
folk and Southern, the Norfolk and Carolina rail- 
roads terminate here, and the railroads to the popu- 
lar sea-bathing places at Ocean View and Virginia 
Beach have made these places easily acces.>ible and 
draw great numbers of people to Norfolk. 

The city of Portsmouth is a port of entry and 
the county-seat of Norfolk county. It is situated 
on the west bank of the Elizabeth river, opposite 
the city of Norfolk, with which it is connected by 
a steam ferry. 



27 

The percentage of pulmonary diseases is very 
small, and the mortality record shows a smaller 
death-rate than that of most of the cities on the 
Atlantic seaboard. 

In the southern part of the city is a United 
States navy-yard — one of the largest and best 
equipped navy-yards in the country. 

A great naval station and dry-dock of the 
United States is located here, and the largest ships 
can be accommodated in this fine harbor and 
dock. 

The enterprise and public spirit of the people 
have kept pace with the development of their re- 
sources and of their commerce. Fine shell roads, 
radiating in sundry directions from Norfolk, have 
superseded the dirt roads that were used a few 
years ago. 

No part of the country offers a more inviting 
field to enterprising and industrious settlers than 
does Norfolk county. 

NANSEMONI) 

Lies on the west side of Norfolk, and, likethat 
county; extends from the North Carolina line 
to Hampton Roads, being, in round numbers, 
thirty miles lon^ by nineteen wide. It is 
w^atered by the Nansemond River and other 
streams running into the James, and by tribu- 
taries of the Black water. Number of acres 
of land, 259,394 Population, 19.692. 

The surface of Nansemoncl is nearly level — 
the soil a friable, sandy loam, a description 
of land now considered the best for general 
purposes, the most profitable to work on ac- 
count of economy of cultivation and adapta- 
bility to a great variety of crops. Marl is 
abundant in the county, and is much used. 

This is the great peanut section of the United 
States, and as lime is a necessity in the produc- 
tion of peanuts, this marl is very valuable, 



28 

furnishing" lime of excellent quality and in 
proper condition "on the hill." 

Peanuts and cotton, corn, oats and vege- 
tables of all sorts (truck) are the principal 
products of this thriving county. A large 
portion of the land is devoted to "trucking." 
Fine tobacco, which has been but is not now 
cultivated, would grow well on the thinnest 
clay lands if fertilized, and the productions of 
this county would coverall the crops of the 
middle of the temperate zone, from cotton to 
potatoes and cabbage. 

The potatoes of Nansemond have long been 
celebrated, and other vegetables grow in equal 
perfection and ripen early, especially melons, 
peas and tomatoes. Onions from the seed 
could,and will sometime, be a large and profit 
able crop. 

Much of the time and capital of the farmers 
of this county is devoted to trucking and 
market gardening. It has its own thriving 
little city, Suffolk, and Norfolk, Richmond 
and the Northern markets for all its products. 
The result is that many of the farms look like 
an aggregation of gardens. 

Fish and oysters abound, and ean be easily 
and cheaply transported east, west, north 
and south of the county. 

Poultry raising is increasing and is profit- 
able. 

There is \'et much fine timber in this county, 
mostly pine, cypress and juniper. Nanse- 
mond's interest in the Dismal Swamp renders 
a lumber famine in her borders impossible. 

The wild animals, bears, wild-cats, deer, 
foxes, raccoons, opossums, otters, muskrats, 
squirrels and hares, are mainly found in or 
near the Dismal Swamp. 

Wild fowl: Ducks, geese, swans, teel, in the 
waters; woodcock, snipe, sora, reedbirds, in 



29 

the marshes; and partri(lg:es, doves, larks, 
plovers, robins, blackbirds, etc., in the fields. 

Suffolk, the county-seat, is a busy and thriv- 
ing town, the center of a large local trade. It 
is connected with Norfolk and Portsmouth by 
railroads and by river navigation, and is the 
terminus of the Suffolk and Carolina railroad. 
It has, by the census of 1890, o, 354 inhabitants. 
It is the seat of great lumber interests, both 
manufacturing and shipping. 

Number of public schools, 09 — white, 41; col- 
ored, 28. 

Easy access to market is furnished by the 
Nansemond river and the steamers plying 
thereon, and by railroads to Norfolk and 
Portsmouth (the Norfolk and Western and 
the Seaboard and Roanoke^, 

Churches are abundant and well attended, 
all denominations being represented. 

Weather report for 1892, ending December 
1st: Average annual temperature about 58°; 
average annual rainfall about 46 inches. 

The county taxes are very low — 20 cents for 
county and 5 cents for schools on the $100 
worth of real and personal property. 

ISLE OF WIGHT 

Was one of the original shires into which Vir- 
ginia was ^divided in 16-34. It is thirty-five 
miles long, with a mean width of about ten 
miles. Population, 11,313. It has 191,451 acres 
of land. 

The surface is mostly level, and the soil a 
light sandy loam. The productions are corn, 
wheat, oats, cotton, peanuts, fruits and vege- 
tables. The land is easily tilled and produces 
good crops. Trucking is carried on very suc- 
cessfully. 

Vegetables, fruits and melons are shipped 
from this county to the Northern cities in 



30 

large quantities. The supplies of fish and oys- 
ters are very large and valuable. 

Game is abundant. The streams furnish 
geese, ducks, swans and \\^ater-fowls in abun- 
dance; the swamps, sora, reedbirds, wood- 
cock and snipe; the fields and forest, turkeys, 
partridges, pigeons, larks, robins and an end- 
less variety of song birds. 

This county has valuable and extensive de- 
posits of marl, rich in carbonate of lime. This 
and lime are largely used in peanut culture. 

Timber of all the varieties native to this 
section is abundant. The health of this county 
is as good as any portion of Tidewater. 

The transportation facilities of this county 
are excellent. 

This county has the James river on its north- 
east border, and is penetrated on the south 
by Blackwater and braches of Nansemond 
river, Pagan creek and their tributaries. The 
Norfolk and Western railroad traverses the 
centre and the Seaboard and Roanoke rail- 
road x>asses through the southern part. These 
roads, together with the navigation on the 
James and on Pagan creek, place all parts of 
the county within easy and quick communi- 
cation with the markets of the whole coun- 
try. 

Taxation: The county levy for county ex- 
penses is 33^ cents on the $100 assessed value 
of real and personal property. 

Number of public schools, 58— white, 38; col- 
ored, 20. 

The county is well supplied with churches — 
Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian 
and Disciples. One of the most interesting 
relics of the past (the most interesting to the 
antiquarian) is Benns church, which stands in 
the forest five miles from Smithfield. It is cer- 
tainly the oldest church in Virginia, and is 



31 

said to be the oldest in America, built by 
European hands. 

Smithfield is the largest town and shipping 
point. It is situated at the confluence of 
Cypress and Pagan creeks, four miles from 
James river. 

Smithfield was an important trading post 
long before it was incorporated in 1752, It 
has now a population of about 1,000, with 
banks, stores, factories, churches, schools and 
all the industries that accompany a busy 
town. It has the largest peanut factory in 
the State and probably in the world, with 
electric plant, working 175 hands and turning 
out about 200,000 bags of peanuts per annum, 
and there are two other large factories. For 
more than a century Smithfield has been cele- 
brated for its hams, which are rated superior 
to the Westphalia, of which 200,000 pounds 
w^ere shipped in one year. 

Besides a daily steamer to Newport Ne^vs 
and Norfolk, many sailing vessels are em- 
ployed in the trade of this place. There were 
handled here the year ending July 1, 189J, 
4,000,000 feet of lumber, 20,000 barrels of pota- 
toes, 230,000 bags of pe:muts, 25,000 packages 
of fruit, 1,200 crates of strawberries, 2,500 crates 
of eggs, 5,000 barrels of flour, 20,000 bushefs of 
oysters (local fishing), besides 1,000 barrels of 
fish and oysters by steamer. More than 
$125,000 was paid on freights to and from this 
point. The above enumeration does not in- 
clude a large trade in cattle, sheep, horses, 
farm products, truck, etc. 

SOUTHAMPTON 

Was formed in 1784 from Isle of Wight. The 
surface is level and the soil productive. It is 
watered by Meherrin, Nottoway and Black - 
water rivers, which furnish broad and fertile 



32 

lowlands and a ji'ood supply of fish. Area, 
369,618 acres. Population, 20,078. 

The Blackwater river forms the eastern 
boundary of the county; theMeherrin its west- 
ern boundary, while the Nottoway river flows 
through its centre. 

They are well stocked w^ith a variety of the 
choicest fish. 

The principal productions are corn, cotton, 
peanuts, truck and potatoes. Soil a light and 
sandy loam, with red-clay subsoil. 

The natiA^e grasses, as wnre-grass and crab- 
grass, are very nutritious. Timotliy, orchard- 
grass and clover grow luxuriantly. 

There is no vv no doubt in the minds of the 
farmers of this county that hay of the finest 
quality can be produced here. The Japan 
clover seems to flourish here, and in many 
parts of the county it is gaining the mastery 
over the wire-grass. 

Cattle do well, and need to be cared for only 
four months in the year. 

Sheep husbandrj'^ could be made a profitable 
enterprise with proper care; early and fine 
lambs can be raised and shipped North at 
great profit. 

Here we have an excellent range for hogs. 
Large numbers are slaughtered annually, and 
thousands of pounds of the choicest bacon 
hams are sent to market. 

As to game, there is all common to this sec- 
tion — deer, fox, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, opos- 
sum, wild turkey, partridge,; and along the 
rivers, ducks, beaver, otter, etc. 

Apples and pears of superior quality yield 
abundantly. Peaches mature well, but late 
spring frosts prevent annual yield, and they 
are, therefore, n 't considered a sure crop. 
Grapes grow luxuriantly. The Scuppernong, 
Isabella, Concord, Clinton, and other varieties 
are grown here abundantly. 



33 

Plums and cherries do well. Strawberries, 
raspberries and blackberries of the finest qual- 
itj^ can be profitably grown. Cranberries grow 
to perfection on the alluvial bottoms. 

Southampton is among the most thriving 
counties of this prosperous section of Virginia. 
This is the banner county in the State in the 
production of cotton, between five and six 
thousand bales being sent to market annually. 

Cotton gins, in n^^at and commodious houses, 
are conveniently located in every part of the 
county. 

The soil is peculiarly adapted to the growth 
of sweet and Irish potatoes, which can be 
produced in great abundance. Stock peas, 
the black-eye pea, the black pea, the yellow 
pea, and other varieties grow in all parts of 
the county to great perfection. 

Watermelons, muskmelons and cantaloupes 
of the finest fiavor and quality are produced. 
The soil, being light, warm and easily tilled, 
and being favored with a semi-tropical climate, 
is par excellence garden soil. 

Within the last few years a few farmers of 
this county have paid some attentinn to the 
production of tobacco, a,nd samples of the 
bright flue-cured tobacco have been shown 
to several experts, and were pronounced very 
fine. It is no longer a question of doubt that 
much of our soil is admirably adapted to the 
growth of the bright leaf tobacco. 

The Seaboard and Roanoke railroad runs 
through the southern portion of the county, 
and the Norfolk and Western passes near its 
northern limits. There is much valuable tim- 
ber, as oak, pine, chestnut, etc. Large quan- 
tities of heart pine, white and red oak, cypress, 
dogwood, hickory, persimmon, ash, pop- 
lar, gum, walnut, sycamore, maple and ordi- 
nary pine are distributed over the entire 
countv, and much of these are CL>nvert^d into 



34 

lumber by the saw-mills, of which there are 
twelve in the county. 

The Norfolk and Western railroad has eight 
miles of its track along the eastern portion of 
the county; the Seaboard and Roanoke rail- 
road runs eighteen miles through its southern 
portion, and the Atlantic and Danville passes 
through its centre from east to west. 

These roads, together with the Surry, Sussex 
and Southampton railroad, now completed 
from James river to Courtland, the countj- 
seat, afford to every farm in the county 
ample and convenient facilities for transpor- 
tation. 

The county levy (tax) for county expenses 
is 32 cents on the $100 value of real and per- 
sonal property. 

Courtland (formerly Jerusalem) is the coun- 
ty-seat, and has a central location. 

Number of public schools, 86— w^hite, 48; col- 
ored, 38. 

Franklin is a thriving town, located at the 
head of navigation on Blackwater river. A 
regular line of first-class steamboats is estab- 
lished between it and Edenton and Plymouth, 
North Carolina. The Seaboard and Roanoke 
and the Atlantic and Danville railroads con- 
nect it with Portsmouth and Norfolk. 

Ivor is a thriving village on the Norfolk and 
Western railroad. 

Many thousand bushels of peanuts are 
shipped from this station. 

Numbers of artesian T\^ells have been cheaply 
and successfully sunk in all the villages and 
in many parts of the county, and afford the 
purest water, and it is claimed that malaria 
has practically disappeared. 

Temperature and rainfall are about the 
same as Surry county, reported by Spottsville 
station. 



35 

ELIZABETH CITY 

Was one of the eight original shires into which 
Virginia was divided in 1634. Its form is nearly 
a square of seven miles on a side. It lies on 
Hampton Roads, Chesapeake bay and Black river, 
and is intersected by several creeks. The surface 
is level and the soil fertile, some of it highly so. 
Number of acres of land, 29,s97. Population, 
16,168. 

The climate of Elizabeth City is delightful, the 
average temperature being 75° in summer and 44° 
in winter 

The supply of fish and oysters of the finest 
quality is almost inexhaustible. The fisheries take 
quantities of shad, trout, bluefish, bay mackerel, 
etc 

Elizabeth City is penetrated and almost sur- 
rounded by navigable waters, and is in daily com- 
munication with Norfolk, Richmond, Baltimore, 
Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, 
by regular lines of steamers to each of these cities, 
affording great advantages to truck and fruit 
growers. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad has its ter- 
minus at Old Point Comfort, so well known for 
the grand fortress located there, and the Hygeia 
Hotel and Chamberlain, now resorted to by thou- 
sands as a winter sanitarium and luxurious rest- 
ing-place, while in summer it is equally popular 
for its sea breezes and salt baths. It has stations 
at Bampton and Phoebus, and the Hampton and 
Old Point Electric Railroad, and the Hampton and 
Newport News Electric Railroad furnishes full 
facilities for the people. Public roads are very 
much improved. 

County taxation: 35 cents for county purposes 

18 cents for county schools; 2 cents for district 

schools; 18 cents for roads; making 73 cents on the 

$100 valuation of property. 

Hampton, the county seat, is a thriving town of 
about 5,000 inhabitants. Here is located that 



36 

noble institution, the Hampton Normal and Col- 
legiate Institute, for the education and training of 
negro and Indian students, with accommodation 
for. six hundred. Hampton Female College is also 
a successful institution. 

Near Hampton is also located the National 
Soldiers' Home for 2,500 disabled volunteer sol- 
diers, with beautiful grounds and buildings. 

Number of public schools, 31 — white, 14; col- 
ored, 17. 

Churches : Baptist, 4; Methodist, 4; Episcopal, 
1; Presbyterian, 1; Disciples, I; Catholic, 1; total, 
12. 

The Manufactories consist of a shoe factory, iron 
foundry, sash and blind factory, and an oil 
factory. 

WARWICK, 

Though a small county in area, and the smallest 
in population, was one of the eight original shires, 
and was densely peopled; there were in this little 
county six parishes. It contains 42,766 acres. 
Population, 6 650. 

The surface is level and the soil productive. 

The land is easily cultivated and very improv- 
able, and there are large deposits of excellent marl. 
Trucking and market gardening are extending. 

Wild animals of the county are deer, fox, rac- 
coon, squirrel and hare. Besides the water fowls 
there are wild turkey, partridge, woodcock and 
sora. 

Fish, oysters and wild fowl are abundant. 
Poultry is increasing. 

The timber of this county consists mainly of 
oak, pine, ash and gum. 

Monthly average temperature for twelve months 
to 1st December, 1892, 59°; rainfall, 46 inches. 

County taxes, 90 cents on $100 value of property 
for county expenses and schools 

The population of Warwick was, in 1880, only 
2,264; but since that time the extension of the 



Chesapeake and Ohio railway to Newport News, 
in the southeastern angle of this county, has made 
an immense difference in the status of Warwick, 
Newport News having grown to be an important 
shipping point resorted to by ocean steamers. 
This is, perhaps, the best coaling station on the 
continent/ and there is here a grain elevator with 
a capacity of 1,500,000 bushels, and wharves on a 
grand scale, with depth of water to accommodate 
the largest ships that float. 

The "boom" at Newport News was not merely a 
"boom." Town lots and farms in the vicinity 
have rapidly and steadily advanced in price, and 
there are plain indications of a "coming" city, 
which will extend from Old Point Comfort to New- 
port News. Ship building js the great industry 
and is rapidly increasing. The Chesapeake and 
Ohio railway has already arranged for a line of 
ocean steamers from this point to Europe, which 
will make Newport News not only a great coaling 
station, but a most important port for the exporta- 
tion of grain and cattle. Another result will be a 
great increase in the production of truck and 
berries for the Western markets by the fast freight 
line established last summer. 

Churches of all religious denominations are to 
be found in the county. 

The public school system is enlarging. There 
are thirteen public schools — seven white and six 
colored. 

YORK 

County was one of the original shires into which 
Virginia was divided in 1634. It was first known 
as Charles county. It is bounded by Chesapeake 
Bay on the east, York river on the northeast, and 
by James City county and Warwick on the west 
and southwest, and b}^ Back river, which separates 
it from Elizabeth City county, on the south. It is 
thirty miles long, with a mean breadth of five 
miles. 



38 

The population is now T.-OG. 

Ti^e Disciples, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyte- 
rians and Methodists each have churches. 

There are numerous public schools iu every dis- 
trict, both for wiiite arid colored. 

Bruton produces corn, oats, potatoes, etc., iu 
abundance. Nelson and Grafton are devoted 
mostly to trucking. In Poquosin District the peo- 
ple are largely engaged in building of canoes, which 
have a world-wide reputation. 

Apples, peaches and pears aie grown all over 
the county. 

This county is intersected by several navigable 
creeks, and by Poquosin river, which, with York 
river and the Chesapeake bay and Back river, 
afford excellent shipping facilities. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio railway passes through 
a small portion of the county. 

The county roads, with proper drainage, could 
be made first-rate. 

There are no manufactures in this county. 

The various rivers and creeks of this county af- 
ford splendid oysters and fish in abundance. 
Pound-nets and fykes are set along the shore; fish 
of everj^ kind and variety are caught. Oysters 
are produced by simply planting shells. 

Game is very plentiful in this county. Squir- 
rels, hares, deer, turkeys, partridges and wild 
geese and ducks afford excellent shooting. 

Bruton District is particularly well adapted to 
stock-raising. Sheep have proved profitable. 

The first battle of the late war was fought at Big 
Bethel, in this county, and the last battle of the 
Revolution was fought at Yorktown, the county- 
seat. This place is in Nel-on District, on York 
river, 11 miles from its mouth, 33 from Nor- 
folk and 70 from Richmond. It was established 
by law in 1705, and had considerable com- 
merce. It la now in bad condition, but it is 
believed that it has a bright future, as it will 
one day be the terminus of a great railroad. There 



39 

is already a prospect of a short road from York- 
town to Jamestown. On the main street of York- 
town is the Nelson residence, the home of Thomas 
Nelson, the Governor of Virginia, during the Rev- 
olutionary war. Yorktown is memorable in his- 
tory as the spot where, on the 19th of October, 
1781, the army of Cornwallis surrendered to the 
combined armies of America and France which 
practically ended the war. The place of surrender 
is about half a mile from the town, on the south 
side of the road to Hampton. 

JAMES CITY. 

James City was one of the original shires into 
which Virginia was divided in 1634. Its length is 
26 miles; breadth, 8 miles; area, 92,377 acres. 
Jamestown, in this county, was settled May 13, 
1607, by Capt. John Smith and his companions. 
Of this deeply interesting spot, little now remains 
but a church-yard and the ruins of an old church* 
Williamsburg, the county-seat, was laid out in the 
ciphers "W." and "M." This was first called 
"Middle Plantation," and is the oldest incorpor- 
ated city in the State, having been settled in 1632. 
In 1698 the seat of government was moved from 
Jamestown to Williamsburg, and it continued the 
capital until 1779, when it was removed to Rich- 
mond. In this old city is the "old Powder-Horn,," 
memorable as being the building from which Lord 
Duumore removed the powder belonging to the 
colony, which caused the first assembly of an 
armed force in Virginia in opposition to royal au- 
thority. Here is also Bruton Parish church, which 
contains the font from which Pocahontas was bap- 
tized. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum is also situ- 
ated here, the first institution in this country at 
which colored lunatics were treated, and now in 
full tide of success for the maintenance and cure 
of white insane. 

On Ware creek, a tributary of the York, is the 
"Old Stone House," the most curious relic of an- 



40 

tiquity of Virs^inia, and supposed to have been 
built by Capt. John Smith. In Howe's History 
of Virginia, this is located in New Kent, but this 
is a mistake. 

Two battles were fought in this county daring 
the Revolution — the first J une 25, 1781 , at Spencer's 
Ordinary; the second near "Green Spring," once 
the elegant home of Sir William Berkeley. One 
battle was fought at Fort Magruder during the late 
war, May 4tb and 5th, 1862. A skirmish also took 
place at Olive Branch church. 

The population of the county, Williamsburg in- 
cluded, is 5,643— white, 2,317; colored, 3,326 

Churches are numerous; the Baptists, Christians, 
Methodists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians have 
churches in the county and town, or adjacent 
thereto. 

Public schools are reasonably convenient to all 
parts of the county, and in Williamsburg there are 
public and private schools and a well-conducted 
high school. At Williamsburg, in this county, is 
W^illiam and Mary College, founded in 1693. This 
institution has been three times destroyed by fire; 
the last time by the Federal soldiers during the late 
war, but was rebuilt by private subscription, the 
people of this locality (although almost ruined by 
the war) contributing thereto, and is now in a 
most flourishing condition. Number of public 
schools, 17 — white, 9; colored, 8. 

There is no newspaper now published here. The 
Virginia Gazette was published at Williamsburg 
August 6. 1736, and was the first newspaper ever 
published in Virginia; it has just been revived. 

Temperature: The temperature is so equalized 
by large bodies of water that it is not extremely 
hot in summer or extremely cold in winter. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio railway with its six 
stations, and broad rivers, afford all the transpor- 
tation that could be desired. 

The county is between Richmond, the State cap- 
ital, and Virginia's infant city, Newport News — 



41 

being less than two hours' ride by rail from the 
former, and one hours' ride from the latter place* 
Unimproved land can now be bought at $4 per 
acre. Improved lands are higher, but cheap; it is 
believed that in the near future there will be a de- 
mand for land along this end of the Chesapeake 
and Ohio railway. 

Taxation for county expenses, 40 cents on the 
$100 value of property/ county schools, 5 cents; 
district schools, 15 cents; public roads, 10 cents; 

total, 70 cents. 

CHAKLES CITY 

Was one of the original shires of Virginia, and 
was established in 1634. It is thirty miles long, 
with a mean width of about eight miles, and con- 
tains 113,405 acres. Population 5,066. 

This county occupies the peninsula formed by 
the Chickahominy and James rivers The sur- 
face is mostly level or gently undulating. The 
lands on the rivers are generally of excellent qual- 
ity, and constitute a large proportion of the area. 
Many fine estates and sundry old colonial resi- 
dences grace the banks of the James; among them 
the homes of two presidents, William Henry Har- 
rison and John Tyler. 

The productions are corn, wheat, oats, peanuts, 
clover, and the finest timothy hay and orchard 
grass. The grape produces abundant crops, and 
is rarely affected with disease. Cherries and pears 
succeed admirably. The climate and soil are suit- 
able to an endless variety of fruits and vegetables, 
many of the former growing wild and in great 
profusion. 

Poultry-raising and dairying are increasing, and 
both are profitable. 

Wild Fowl : Turkeys, pheasants, ducks, geese, 
sora 

The timber consists of oak, pine, elm, ash, pop- 
lar, etc. 

Both rivers and all the creeks are filled with 
fi^h. 



42 

Lying, as Charles City does, between two naviga- 
ble rivers, and having a railroad (the Chesapeake 
and Ohio) skirting its northern boundary and pass- 
ing through its northwestern corner, its means of 
transportation to the markets of the country are 
convenient for all parts of the county. 

Marl is abundant, both eocene and mioceue — 
some of it rich in green sand. 

Number of public schools, 23 — white, 11; col- 
ored, 12. 

Church buildings ample for the congregations of 
the several denominations. 

SURRY 

Is one of the oldest counties in the State, being 
just opposite Jamestown, the cradle of the colony. 
It has James river for its northern boundary and 
the Blackwater for a portion of its southern. Area, 
138 131 acres. Population, 8,256. 

The weather service of the State Department of 
Agriculture at Spottsville gives the monthly aver- 
age temperature for the year ending November 30, 
1892, as 56.8°, and the rainfall as 47.77 inches. 

The lauds are level and slightly rolling. The 
principal products are corn, wheat, oats, peanuts, 
lumber and fire- wood for Northern markets. 

About two-thirds of the county is in timber, 
principally pine, white oak, hickory, poplar, 
beech, walnut, persimmon, cypress, holly and the 
gums. 

All kinds of fruits are cultivated with success. 

Marl exists in great abundance and is very ac- 
cessible. Wherever applied it has never failed to 
produce most excellent results. 

The Atlantic and Danville railroad runs from 
Danville to Claremont. 

The Company runs a steamer from its wharves 
at Claremont to Petersburg, a distance of fifty- 
miles. 

The Surry, Sussex and Southampton railroad 
has its water terminus in this county, and twenty 



43 

miles of its line will be in the county, passing 
through the county-seat. 

The Surry Lumber Company has eleven miles 
of narrow-gauge road connecting with the Atlantic 
and Danville railroad at Spring Grove. 

The Surry and Smithfield railroad was chartered 
by the Legislature to run through the finest truck- 
ing section in the county to Smithfield, in Isle of 
Wight county. 

Other shipping facilities are the James river, 
which forms the northeastern boundary- of the 
county, on which ply daily the steamers of the Pe- 
tersburg Steamboat Company, the Virginia Steam- 
boat Company, the Old Dominion Steamship Com- 
pany, touching ai all the wharves, of which there 
are six in the county; and the Norfolk and Wes- 
tern railroad, which passes oq the southern side of 
the county. 

Claremont, the eastern terminus of the Atlantic 
and Danville railroad, is a colony settled since 1880 
by Northern people. A Northern capitalist bought 
the old Allen estate of 12,500 acres, and divided it 
into small farms. About three hundred families 
have settled there. This was in 1886. 

This county has twenty-two churches — three 
Episcopal, nine Methodist, eight Baptist and two 
Christian ; and twenty-three public schools — nine- 
teen white and four colored. 

The rate of county taxation is 35 cents on the 
$100 valuation of land and personal property. 

THIRD DISTRICT. 
A. S. BuFORD, President of the Board, Rich- 
mond. 
This District has six counties and includes 
the cities of Richmond and Manchester. 

HENRICO 

Was one of the original shires into which Virginia 

was divided in 1634. Its length is twenty-seven 

miles; mean breadth about eight miles. The sur- 

ace is undulating; soil on the rivers very produc- 



44 

tive. It is drained od the south line by James 
river, and on the north by the Chickahominy, and 
by their tributaries. It produces largely of corn, 
wheat, oats, trucks, and some tobacco. The popu- 
lation, including Richmond, is 103,394. Number 
of acres of land, 161,816. 

Having the large city of Richmond, with a 
population of 81,388, near the centre of its south 
border, and four railroads passing through this 
county, the products of the farm have quick, 
ready sale and small cost of carriage. Its produc- 
tions are large and varied, and the profits of farm- 
ing as good as in any part of the country. Grass 
succeeds well. There are several large nurseries 
and many large orchards and vineyards in the 
county; and dairy farming is extensively carried 
on. The largest and finest dairies in the State are 
located around this city. 

There are a number of smaller dairy farms that 
do a large and successful business. These have 
greatly improved the lands of the county and in- 
creased the production of grass, hay and ensilage. 
There are several large poultry farms near the city, 
which is an excellent poultry market. Market- 
gardening and trucking are rapidly increasing, 
keeping pace with the increased growth and in- 
creasing consumption of the city of Richmond. 
Improved stock of all kinds are to be found in thig 
county. In addition to the improvement in cattle 
by dairy-farming and the introduction of blooded 
cattle, there are several stock-farms for the rearing 
of blooded horses of different breeds, and atten- 
tion has Leen lately giyen to the improvement of 
sheep for mutton and spring lambs. 

The planting of vineyards is goinj on rapidly, as 
experience has shown that this county is admirably 
adapted to grape-growing. The Norton, the best 
of American wine grapes, except the Cynthiana, 
which is of the same family, originated just out- 
side of Richmond, and almost all the native grapes 
do well here. 



45 

Large quantities of table grapes from the vine- 
yards of the county are annually marketed in 
Richmond. 

Granite in great abundance, potter's clay and 
coal exist in Henrico. "Natural" coke of excellent 
quality is largely mined in the upper part of the 
county. Fine marls are found in different parts 
of the county. Good green-sand near Malvern 
Hill has been developed, and the best shell- marls 
are found on the Chickahominy and White Oak 
swamps, one deposit analyzing 85 per cent, car- 
bonate of lime. Valuable brick-clay is found in 
different locations along the James river, and larg® 
quantities of building brick are manufactured. 

The James River Division of the Chesapeake 
and Ohio railway runs along the southern border 
of this county, and the Chesapeake and Ohio, the 
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, and 
Richmond, York River and Chesapeake, and the 
projected Richmond and Chesapeake railroads 
pass through the county. The Belt line from the 
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, crossing 
James river above the city, connects with the Rich- 
mond and Petersburg beyond Manchester. The 
Seven Pines railroad, from Richmond to the Na- 
tional Cemetery, affords accommodation for nine 
miles through a thickly-populated and improving 
section. Many of the public roads have been 
greatly improved and are being improved. 

Richmond, the capital and largest city in the 
State, is situated in this county, on the north bank 
of .Tames river, at the head of tide-water. It has 
extensive wharves and docks, with a depth of 
eighteen feet of water over the bar, to be increased 
to twenty-four feet. It has extensive commerce 
and tiade and large manufacturing establishments 
of every kind. It is the chief market of the 
State. 

Henrico county, surrounding as it does the citj'- 
of Richmond, which is reached from every direc- 
tion by railroads and traversed by street cars, en- 



46 

joys exceptional educational advantages. The 
colleges, private institutions, and splendid public 
school system of Richmond, and the admirable 
public schools of the county afford every facility 
for acquiring an education. Number of public 
schools, 71 — white, 41; colored. 30. 

Churches of all denominations are scattered over 
the county. 

Farming lands in the county vary in price from 
$5 to $200 per acre, according to improvements 
and location. 

Taxation for all county purposes, 45 cents on 
the $100 valuation of real and personal property> 
being fixed at 90 per cent, on State tax and valua- 
tion. 

GOOCHLAND 

Was formed in 1727 from Henrico. It is thirty 
miles long and about ten miles wide. It lies 
on the north bank of the James river, in its 
entire length. The surface is undulating. 
Area, ir8,G04 acres. The population is 9,958. 

The soil is a gray or chocolate loam., resting 
on a tenacious red-clay sub-soil, and is noted 
for its large and excellent crops of wheat. 

The soil on the rivers and creeks is very- 
rich ; on the ridffes not so good, but is easily 
improved and then very productive. It pro- 
duces large crops of tobacco, corn, wheat, oats 
and hay. As fine timothy meadows can be 
shown as are in the United States. 

Attention is being paid to the culture of the 
vine, to which much of the land is admirably 
adapted. 

In this county are found gold, iron ore, cop- 
per and coal. There were seven gold mines 
and two coal mines in the county in 1885. 
Some of these are noT\^ at work and a new 
impetus has been given to this work. A fine 
mica mine "\;vas worked near Irwin Station, 
and in the lower end of the couuty, on the 



47 

railroad, petroleum ornapthahas been found, 
and considerable quantities of "mountain- 
tallow" exhibited. The indications are that 
this oil is in considerable quantities. Besides 
gold, iron and coal, several other minerals are 
found here, such as granite, plumbago and 
asbestos. The county-seat, near the centre of 
the county, is thirty miles from Richmond, 
and is a thriving little village. 

The number of public schools, 59— Tvhite 35; 
colored, 24. Twenty church buildings are oc- 
cupied by five or six denominations. 

Average temperature for 1892, 56°; rainfall 
about 42 inches. 

Good land can be bought for $12 per acre; 
on the ridges, from $2 to $5. The Richmond 
and Alleghany Railroad, running through its 
length, forty-two miles by the windings of 
James River, furnishes transportation for the 
farm products. The health of the county is 
excellent. It is drained by several large and 
many small creeks, which empty into the 
James. 

Rate of county tax : 40 cents on the $100 
valuation of property for county purposes ; 
county school tax, 10 cents ; district schools, 
10 cents ; making 60 cents for all county taxes. 

Many Northern men have purchased lands 
and settled in this county, and are well 
pleased with it 

CHESTERFIELD 

"Was formed from Henrico in 1748. It is 28 miles 
long and 18 miles wide, and contains 293,074 acres. 
Population: White, 15,399; colored, 10,812; total, 
26,211. The surface is rolling. The soil is in 
general light and gray in color, easily improved. 

Chesterfield county lies between the James 
river on the north and the Appomattox on the 
south. It is intersected by a number of large 
streams. The county is divided into two unequal 



48 

parts by the seam of granite which marks the limit 
of tide-water in all of the rivers of the State. 

The eastern and smaller section is, therefore, in 
Tidewater Virginia, and is adapted to all the crops 
of that section. The southern section, in addition 
to the cereals, vegetables, peanuts, etc., of the 
Tidewater section, produces a good quality of 
tobacco. 

The lands along the James and Appomatox 
rivers, both above and below tide-water, are good, 
some of it being unsurpassed by any in the State. 
The historic farms of Drewry's Bluff, Presque Isle 
and Bermuda Hundred, with many others just as 
productive, are on the James river, below Rich- 
mond, and are certainly equal to any lands in 
Eastern Virginia. There are some fine farming 
lands on the large creeks. The highlands in many 
cases, though naturally good, have been worn 
down, and need improvement. 

Chesterfield, in the Exposition of 1889, got the 
first premium for county agricultural products and 
the second for timber wood and minerals. 

The farming interest of this county is rapidly 
undergoing a change through the energy and per- 
severance of Northern and Western settlers, who, 
finding that they could not compete with the West 
in the cultivation of grain crops, have been seed- 
ing their meadow lands to grass, raising butter and 
milk for the three adjacent cities — Richmond and 
Manchester on the north and Petersburg on the 
south. Also, they are now planting vineyards, 
strawberries and small fruits generally. 

The county, lying as it does between Richmond 
and Petersburg, offers extraordinary inducements 
to the market gardener, to say nothing of the ad- 
vantages of being in easy reach of the Northern 
markets by steamers on James river, at many of 
the wharves of which vessels can be freighted for 
foreign ports. 

Dairying is now in its infancy, but the ease with 
which grass can be grown on much of our river 



49 

land and the proximity of two large cities will at 
no distant day make it an important industry. 
All the little industries fostered by the proximity 
of large cities have a place among its industries. 

There is a large blooded-horse stock-farm near 
Manchester. 

As to game, the county has all common to this 
section— deer, fox, rabbit, squirrel, raccoon, opos- 
sum, etc., with wild turkeys, partridges, and along 
the rivers ducks, geese, sora, etc. Our streams are 
well supplied with fish— all native to this section 
abound, and m tide-waler streams sturgeon, shad, 
herring and terrapin in great abundance. 

The facilities afforded by the railroads, navigable 
rivers, etc., for shipping, has built up a very large 
industry in the cutting of wood and lumber for the 
Northern market. All kinds of timber can be 
utilized — gum, oak, pine, cedar, dogwood and 
popular. Even the catting of hoop poles, tobacco- 
box linings, etc., gives employment to many. 

The Richmond coal-field, sometimes called the 
Chesterfield coal-field, runs across the county from 
north to south. At Midlothian the workings are 
in the hands of companies, independent of the 
railroad. At Clover Hill the Brighthope Railway 
Company is working two large pits. 

Manchester, opposite Richmond, is a largely 
manufacturing city, with a population by census 
of 1890 of 9,240. 

Taxes for all county purposes amount to 70 cents 
on $100 worth of all real and personal estate. 

Ochre is being successfully worked on the lower 
Appomatox. 

On the seam of granite above mentioned there 
are one small and two large quarries, the output 
of which is said to be equal to any in the country. 
There is room for unlimited enterprise in this 
direction. 

Chestei, on the Richmond and Petersburg rail- 
road, and Bon Air, on the Richmond and Danville, 
are summer resorts for a class of people in the 



50 

cities who wish to get their families to the country, 
but cannot leave their business. 

The county roads are fairly good, and are being 
rapidly improved. The Buckingham turnpike in 
the western part of the county, and the Richmond 
and Petersburg turnpike, running across the 
county, no longer charge tolls, but are still good 
roads. 

Number of public schools, 77 — white, 49; colored, 
28. The Normal and ('ollegiate Institute for col- 
ored students is located in Chesterfield near Peters- 
burg. 

Average monthly temperature for 1892, 58.4°; 
rainfall, 40.30 inches. 

NEW KENT 

Was formed in 1654 from York. It is twenty-six 
miles long and seven to nine miles broad, and con- 
tains 129,609 acres of land. 

Population, 5,511. 

This county, lying between the Pamunkey, 
York and Chickahominy rivers, has extensive and 
fertile bottom lands, with navigable streams on 
two sides. 

The soil is light and sandy in the interior, and 
varies from sandy to stiff clay on the river bottoms, 
and is easily improved by clover or peas in proper 
rotations. 

The productions are corn, wheat, oats and early 
vegetables and potatoes (both sweet and Irish), for 
which, latter soil is well suited. Trucking and 
poultry raising have increased and are profitable. 

Wild animals: Deer, foxes, hares, squirrels, 
raccoons, opossums, otters, musk-rats, etc. 

Wild fowl: Turkey, duck, goose, blue pullet, 
etc. 

Wild birds: Partridge, dove and lark. 

Marl is abundant and of excellent quality. That 
near St. Peter's church contains about ninety per 
cent, carbonate of lime, and has been successfully 



51 

used on the lands and even for mortar in laying 
bricks. 

Valuable green-sand marl is found on the Pa- 
munkey, and many lands have been kept up in 
fertility by its application. 

The timber consists of oak, hickory, maple, dog- 
wood and pme. 

Two railroads furnish added facilities for access 
to market. The Richmond and York Kiver rail- 
road on the north, and the Chesapeake and Ohio 
railway in the southern part, are of convenient 
access to all parts of its territory. 

Providence Forge, at the head of Chickahominy 
navigation and on the Chesapeake and Ohio rail- 
way, is a thriving village in a fertile valley, and 
well located for a considerable town. It has good 
water-power. 

It is a healthy county, with the exception of 
mild types of intermittent fevers, easily controlled. 

Lands can be cheaply bought, the price varying 
from three dollars to twenty dollars. 

Rate of county taxation: 50 cents for county 
purposes; 15 cents for schools, and 15 cents for 
roads, making 80 cents on the $100 value of real 
and personal property. 

The people are intelligent and cultivated, and 
are noted for their generous hospitality and soci- 
ability. 

Number of public schools, 25 — white, 14; colored, 
11. 

Churches are conveniently located over the 
county, and most of the denominations have 
houses of worship. 

KING WILLIAM. 

This county is a narrow peninsula, lying be- 
tween the Pamunkey and Mattaponi rivers, which 
unite and form the York. It is some thirty miles 
long by about eight miles as its average width. 

Population, 9,605— males, 4,823; females. 4,782; 
white, 3,783; colored. 5,822. Area, 172,433 acres. 



52 

As might be supposed, the land lies well for cul- 
tivation. About 10 per cent, of the area is in orig- 
inal timber, and 40 per cent, under systematic ro- 
tation of crops. 

The flats along the rivers are extensive and pro- 
ductive; the soil throughout the county is of good 
quality, producing a fine quality of corn, wheat 
tobacco, oats, peanuts, peas, potatoes and vegeta- 
bles of all kinds. Clover, millet and other hay 
crops do well; timothy also does well in many 
places on the bottoms and improved highlands. 

Large deposits of marl are found in many sec- 
tions. There is abundance of good marl, which 
has been used with much benefit to the soil. The 
green-sand marl of King William is similar to that 
of New Jersey, which has been foand so valuable 
as to bear carriage considerable distances from the 
beds. 

The timber consists of pine, oak, chestnut, beech, 
poplar and ash. 

The green sand along the Pamunkey is one of 
nature's best fertilizers, producing wonderful im- 
provements wherever applied, and large quanti- 
ties are raised and shipped on the river. 

The climate is unsurpassed; just cold enough 
for ice and never too hot to work. Average tem- 
perature, 59°; average rainfall, 42 inches. 

The health of the inhabitants will compare favor- 
bly with any section of the South. The supply of 
water is good from never failing wells. Artesian 
wells have been introduced in different parts of 
the county and a large number in West Point, 
and they have succeeded beyond expectation in 
furnishing a full supply of the best water. 

The Pamunkey and Mattaponi are navigable for 
steam and sail boats of large size for about two- 
thirds of the length of the county, affording ample 
and cheap transportation to all the Eastern mar- 
kets. 

The York River division of the Richmond and 
Danville system of railroad passes through about 



53 

twenty miles of the county, connecting daily with 
steamers for Baltimore and other points Norths 
and semi-weekly with those for New York, Bos- 
ton and Providence. 

West Point, the deep-water terminus of the Rich- 
mond and Danville system of railroads, is situated 
at the extreme east point of the county. 

HANOVER 

Was formed in 1720 from New Kent. The popu- 
lation is 17,402. There are 293,569 acres of land. 
It lies between the Pamunkey and Chickahominy 
rivers. The northeast line is formed by the North. 
Anna and Pamunkey, the latter stream being 
formed near the centre of that line by the junction 
of the South Anna with the North Anna. The 
central parts are well drained by tributaries of 
these main streams. 

The surface in the eastern part is generally level, 
and the soil is a light sandy loam, well suited to 
trucking. The sweet potato here attains its great- 
est perfection, and the melons of Hanover are un- ' 
surpassed In the central and western portions 
the surface is more rolling, and the lands suited to 
the culture of tobacco, the cereals and grasses. 

There are many fine blooded horses and cattle in 
this county. 

On the Pamunkey are some fine wheat lands. 

A considerable number of farmers make dairy- 
ing and poultry-raising a prominent and success- 
ful part of their occupation. The upper end of 
the county is a very fine tobacco section, and many 
fine crops are produced. 

Game is abundant. Wild turkeys, pheasants, 
woodcocks, snipes, partridges and wild ducks 
abound. Occasionally deer are seen. Foxes, 
raccoons, opossums, woodchucks, squirrels, hares, 
otters, minks, musk-rats, are plentiful. 

Marls of several sorts, both miocene and eocene, 
with green sand of the richest quality, are found 



54 

here, and have been very profitably used on the 
lands. 

Very large quantities of lumber, cross-ties and 
cord- wood are marketed every year from the 
county. 

Mica, feldspar, asbestos and gneiss are found in 
the western half of the county. 

A deposit of the finest mica and a quarry of red 
granite, of excellent quality, are being developed 
near Verdon station, on the Chesapeake and Ohio 
railroad. 

This is a fine county for immigrants with small 
capital and industrous habits. The trucking and 
canning business can be, and is made very profit- 
able here by persons familiar with gardening. 
The county is fall of delicious wild berries, and 
all of the cultivated berries do remarkably well, 
and there are several large canneries for fruits and 
vegetables; a large fertilizer factory and several 
saw-mills. 

Taxation: Whole tax. State and county, 90 
cents. Tax for all county purposes, 60 cents on 
the $100 worth of property; State tax 40. 

The railroad facilities of the county are excel- 
lent. Besides the Richmond, Fredericksburg and 
Potomac railroad passing through from north to 
south, the Chesapeake and Ohio intersects it in a 
north and northwest direction, having a course of 
nearly forty miles in Hanover, and the Richmond 
and York River railroad skirts its southeast cor- 
ner. 

The accommodation trains of the Richmond, 
Fredericksburg and Potomac running daily be- 
tween Fredericksburg and Richmond, and twice a 
day between Ashland and Richmond, give great 
facilities to the citizens of these growing towns. 
TLere is also an accommodation train of the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio railroad between the Junction 
and Richmond running daily. 

Number of public schools, 83 — white, 48; col- 
ored, 35. The graded schools in Ashland has four 



55 

teachers and gives great satisfaction. Randolph- 
Macon College, under the patronage of the Vir- 
ginia and Baltimore Conferences of the Methodist 
Church South, is located at Ashland. 

Ashland, a town of fifteen hundred to two 
thousand inhabitants, is the educational centre of 
the section. While mainly a residential town, 
with many fine homes, it has a fine trade and ex- 
tensive business operations. 

The weather station located here gives the 
monthly average temperature of the county for 
1892 at 56°; rainfall, annual, 42.48 inches; monthly, 
3.54 inches. 

FOURTH DISTRICT. 

R. M. Mallory, Smoky Ordinary, Brunswick 
County. 

This District comprises eleven counties situ- 
ated south of the James river and extending 
to the'North Carolina line. 

AMELIA. 

This county lies on the south bank of the 
Appomatox river, is thirty miles long and 
about ten broad, contains 222,788 acres and 
has a population of 9,068. Soil, gray slate, red 
clay and sandy loam, and producesgood crops 
of tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, rye and grass. 
Tobacco is the chief money crop, and flue cur- 
ing furnishes bright tobacco of the finest qual- 
ity. All fruits grow well and are prolific 
under proper care, vegetables of all kinds grow 
to perfection. Grapes are cultivated with 
profitable results. The plum, whortleberry, 
dewberry, grape and blackberry grow wild 
and are used for canning. 

The county is Avell supplied with wood of 
all kinds. The wild sumac has developed a 
new trade. 

The winters are mild and short, the sum- 
mers pleasant. 



56 

The minerals are various. 

Mica is abundant, kaolin in great abund- 
ance. 

A mine of steatite is operated. Some coal and 
some gold. Mineral springs, both sulphur 
and lithia exist. 

The public schools are in prosperous condi- 
tion, and there are churches of various denom- 
inations over the count3^ The Richmond & 
Danville railroad passes through the center of 
the county, and the Norfolk & Western near 
its southeastern border. The Appomatox 
river on the northern edge, is open for naviga- 
tion to the markets of Petersburg. The lands 
are for sale at Ioav rates for their real produc- 
tive value and improvements and average 
from $2 to $10 per acre. 

BRUNSWICK COUNTY. 

This county was formed in 1721 from'Surry 
and Isle of Wight. It is nearly square, contains 
345,976 acres and has a population of 17,245 
The surface is undulating and the lands well 
watered, having the Nottoway river on its 
North and the Meherriu and tributaries 
through the central parts and the tributaries 
of the Roanoke in the Southern sections. The 
soil is mostly a sandy loam, easily \\^orked 
and very productive in wheat, corn, cotton, 
peanuts, and tobacco. Bright tobacco has 
been raised for the last ten years with great 
success. Vegetables of all kinds and fruits 
and melons grow in great perfection, grapes 
in abundance and figs and quinces also do 
Tvell. The lands in this county are for sale 
at lower rates for their real value than in any 
other part of the State. The climate is mild 
and healthy, the people generous and hospi- 
table. There is wealth in the fine timber of 
this county, such as oak, pine, poplar, hickory, 
gum, maple, birch and other kinds. 



57 

The line of the Atlantic and Danville rail- 
road passes through the heart of the county 
and its shops are located atLawrenceville,the 
county seat, a growing and thrifty town, 
where are published The Brunswick Gazette 
and Brunswick News. 

There are churches of different denomina- 
tions in all parts of the county, and the school^ 
are in a most prosperous condition. Lands sell 
from $2 to f 10 per acre. 

DINWIDDIE. 

This county was formed in 1752 from Prince 
George. The surface is mostly level and the 
soil is light clay loam, susceptible of high im- 
provement. The Appomatox river on the 
north boundary and the Nottoway river on 
the South, with their tributaries, give ample 
drainage and furnish fertile bottom lands. 

The area of the county is 326,075 acres, the 
population 13,515. 

The principal crops are corn, tobacco, 
wheat and oats, while cotton, peanuts, 
potatoes, melons and vegetables of every 
kind grow well. Near Petersburg, farmers en- 
gage largely in trucking and small fruits. 
All the grasses grow well. Large forests of 
oaks, pine, hickory, ash, dogwood, walnut, 
elm and poplar; lumber and wood are largely 
marketed. In some portions of the county 
there is an abundance of marl. Several veins 
of hematite and of magnetic iron ore, and 
also a large supply" of granite. 

The Appomatox has been dredged and is 
navigable for small vessels. 

The Central Lunatic Asylum is located in 

this county. The free school system is well 

established. The city of Petersburg is a large 

cotton, tobacco, wheat and peanut market, 

with various lines of railroads running to the 

city. 
Lands sell from $2 to $25 per acre. 



58 

GREENSVILLE COUNTY. 

This county was formed in 1780 fri»m Bruns- 
wick. It is on the North Carolina line and is 
one of the cotton and peanut producing coun- 
ties, with an area of 186,728 acres and a 
population of 8,230. The surface is level, soil 
sandy loam, and is easily cultivated. The 
Nottoway river on the north line and the 
Meherrin flowing through its central parts 
with their tributaries, drain its surface and 
furnish ample water power, and abundant 
supplies of fish. Tobacco and wheat are 
raised in some parts of the county, and corn, 
oats, cotton and peanuts in all portions. 
Lands are cheap and the people hospitable 
and kind. The climate is mild and healthy. 
Timber is abundant and valuable. Marl is 
found and is valuable in the production of 
peanuts. Transportation facilities are good. 
The Coast Line, The Atlantic & Danville and 
The Seaboard and Roanoke traverse the 
county. Plenty of churches and schools. 
Lands sell from $2 to $20 per acre. 

LUNENBURG. 

This county was formed in 1746 from Bruns- 
wick. It is 30 miles long and contains 267,535 
acres, with a population of 11,372. 

White and other oaks, pine, hickory, walnut 
and maple are abundant. Fine whetstone is 
found. The surface is mostly level, the soil a 
greyish slate, easily cultivated and producing 
good crops. The county lies between the Not- 
toway and Meherrin rivers, their tributaries 
penetrate the county and afford many loca- 
tions for mill sites. The lands of Lunenburg 
are lower in price than any lands in South 
side Virginia. This is a healthy section and 
well adapted to fruits and the grape. The 
people are kind and hospitable. The produc- 



59 

tions are tobacco, wheat, corn, oats, cotton, 
and urasses. The finest bright tobaccos are 
produced and cotton is ex-ellent quality. 
Sheep do Tvell and rarely need feeding or. 
housing. The Richmond and Southein rail- 
road passes the northwest border, while 
the Atlantic and Danville passes near and 
along its southern border. 
Lands sell from $2 to $20 per acre. 

MECKLENBURG. 

This county was formed in 1764 from Lunen- 
burg. It is 36 miles long and contains 414,262 
acres and has a population of 25,359. It is 
watered by the Meherrin and Roanoke rivers 
and their tributaries. The Dan and Staunton 
rivers unite in this county and form the 
Roanoke. Upon these rivers there is a large 
extent of rich bottom land. The soil is varied 
and susceptible of improvement. (Copper, 
granite, soapstone and kaolin have been dis- 
covered The staple crops are tobacco, wheat, 
corn, oats and cotton. Sorghum, from which 
a superior quality of molasses is made is 
easily produced. 

This county is celebrated for its fine grades 
of tobacco. The fine river bottoms produce 
large quantities of corn. Winter oats succeed 
well when seeded early. Herds and orchard 
grass, timothy, clover and most of the domes- 
tic grasses flourish luxuriantly and yield 
abundantly. There is an abundance of oak, 
pine, hickory, ^valnut and various other kinds 
of timber. The climate is fine and the water 
good. The Buffalo Lithia Spring is in this 
county and has a woi-ld wide reputation. 

Transportation facilities are good in every 
portion of the county. There are plenty of 
churches and school houses scattered over the 
county. Lands sell from $3 to $25 per acre. 



GO 
NOTTOWAY. 

This county was formed in 17SS, from Ame- 
lia,. It is 20 miles long and about 12 miles 
wide and contains 224,966 acres, with a popu- 
lation of 11,582. The principal crops are to- 
bacco, wheat, corn and oa^s. The tobacco of 
this county is noted for its excellent quality. 
The timber consists of oak, pine, hickory 
maple, walnut, beech, poplar, ash, gum, cedar 
and dogwood. Mica, steatite, kaolin and 
granite are found There has been a great 
shrinkage of value in real estate, owing to 
change of the population in this county and 
fine lands can be bought at a low price. 

Churches are found scattered over the county 
and education is on the free school system. 
Lands sell from $3 to $15 oer acre. 

PRINCE GEORGE. 

Prince George has an area of 171,016 acr.^s 
and a population of 7,872. Its north and 
northwestern boundaries are the James and 
Appomatox rivers. The lands on these rivers 
are noted for their fertility. The surface is 
level, and the soil on the rivers very fine. The 
productions are wheat, corn, oats, hay, pea- 
nuts, cotton and tobacco. Fruits, especially 
the grape, seem wonderfully adapted to this 
soil. 

Pears succeed splendidly. There can be no 
better trucking land than this county. Marl 
of various sorts is abundant and has been 
used with fine results. Many churches of 
various denominations, and free school sys- 
tem in prosperous operation. Fish and fowl 
are abundant and the marshes furnish sora, 
woodcock and snipe. The transportation 
facilities are convenient to all parts of this 
county by the navigable rivers and by several 



61 

lines of railroads Lands sell from $3 to $12 
per acre. 

POWHATAN. 

This county was formed in 1777 from Cum- 
berland county. It is 25 miles long- and con- 
tains 162,816 acres of land and 6,791 people. 
The climate is very mild, so much so thatTv^ork 
maybe done during any of the winter months, 
and cattle and sheep do well out of doors 
with very little feed. 

The surface is gently undulating and the soil 
mostly gray and of a light texture, with some 
stiff clays. The jjroductions are tobacco, corn, 
wheat, oats and hay, tobacco being the prin- 
ciple money crop. The soil abounds in lime 
and mica which makes them easy to work 
and well suited to grains and grasses. All of 
the grasses do well here, but clover, timothy, 
herbs, grass, millet, and orchard grass are 
mostly raised. Fruits, vegetables, melons, et6., 
are abundant and cannot be excelled. 

Coal, mica, kaolin, iron ore and granite are 
found There are various mills, one large 
brick works, spoke factory, tobacco factory, 
one fancy hardwood works and one pipe fac- 
tory in this county. Churches and schools as 
in other counties. Lands sell from $5 to $40 
per acre. 

PRINCE EDWARD. 

This county was forme. 1 from Amelia in 
1753. It is 25 miles long and about 10 wide, 
and contains 218,604 acres with a population 
of 14,694. The Appomatox river and its tri- 
butaries water the county. The soil varies 
greatly. There is the gray, soft soil, with stiff 
re^l clay sub-soil. This class of land is con- 
sidered best for heavy dark tobacco and also 
good for wheat and red clover. Then there 
is the red land with stiff red clay sub-soil, 



62 

which is good for wheat and red clover and 
tlie other t^rasses and makes fine dark tobacco, 
while the gray, soft sandy soil with a yellow 
clay sub-soil produces the fine fancy yello^^ 
tobacco used for wrappers and smoking to- 
bacco. These produce corn, oats, all the 
fruits, vegetables and somegrasses, well. The 
minerals are iron, mica, copper, kaolin, coal 
and building stones. Springs of pure water 
are abundant. 'I here is no healthier region in 
the State. Hampden-Sidney ('ollege and the 
Union Theological Seminary are located near 
Farmville, a thriving town in this county. 
The State Normal School is also here. Trans- 
portation facilities are afforded by the Nor- 
folk & Western and the Richmond & Danville 
railroads. A moral and hospitable people, 
good lands at cheap rates, are strong induce- 
ments of this healthy region. Prices range 
frpm $2 to $10 per acre. 

SUSSEX. 

Sussex county was formed from Surry, the 
Black water river separating the two counties. 
By this river and its tributaries, Sussex is 
watered in its northeastern parts, while the 
Nottoway river meanders through the heart of 
the county with many branches. The area of 
the county is 298,002 acres, its population 11,000. 
Its soil is light in general and productive on 
the streams. The crops are peanuts, cotton, 
corn and oats. Marl is abundant and much 
used. The principal wood is pine. Grasses 
grow well, and much of Sussex is admirably 
adapted to sheep raising. The transporta- 
tion facilities are fine. The Norfolk & Western 
passes through the county, also the Coast 
Line and the Atlantic & Danville railroad. 
Plenty of churches and school houses. Lands 
sell from ^2 to $20 per acre. 



63 

FIFTH DISTRICT. 

John L. Hurt, Hurt, Pittsylvania County, 
Virginia. 

This district is composed of seven counties 
and extends from tlie mountains to the North 
Carolina line. 

PITTSYLVANIA. 

This county is situated on the Southern 
border of the State and is thirty-five miles 
long and about twenty wide. It is the third 
county in area in the State, and contains 
618,267 acres, valued at $3,313,454, with a popu- 
lation of 70,246. It is bounded on the North 
by the Staunton river and has Banister, D jn 
and Hyco rivers through the Central and 
Southern parts. These rivers and their tribu- 
tary streams afford ample drainage, water- 
power, and much fertile bottom land. Thp 
surface is rolling and hilly, with some low 
mountains. The soil is light gray, and grav- 
elly on the hills, while the low lands vary from 
stiff red to a light, fiable, sandy texture, and 
are very fertile. Tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, 
rye and the grasses are the chief farm pro- 
ducts; the tobacco is largely of the bright, 
high priced kind and is the main money crop. 

Danville is one of the chief tobacco marts 
of the State and is a growing city, with many 
large manufactui'ing industries and an im- 
portant railroad centre. - It is located on the 
Dan river, near the southern end of the county, 
and is the terminus of four railroads. 

All parts of the county have convenient ac- 
cess to market by railroads crossing its terri- 
tory. The Richmond and Atlantic enters from 
its Eastern border, the Virginia Midland from 
the North, traversing its greatest length, and 
the Danville and New River frooa the Western 
line all center in the town of Danville. 



64 

The miueral wealth of this county is very 
great, and was illustrated in part at the 
World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial by 
the following specimens: Superior magnetic 
iron ore, manganese, barytes, kaolin, asbestos, 
gray granite, soapstone, and marble. 

Good farms can be purchased at from 4 to 
$10 per acre on easy terms. 

FRANKLIN. 

This county is situated in tRe southern part 
of the State and is thirty miles long and about 
twenty wide. The Roanoke (there called the 
Staunton), runs on its northeast border, 
and the county is intersected by numerous 
creeks. The surface is rolling as in the Pied- 
mont counties generally. The soil is fertile 
any produces large crops of tobacco, corn, 
wheat, hay and oats. The population is 
24,953. Good land can be bought at $4 to $10 
per acre. Franklin contains 435,175 acres as- 
sessed at $1,622,342. 

This county, as is all of Piedmont, is an ex- 
cellent fruit region, particularly adapted to 
grapes and apples; and it is also a good grass 
and stock raising county. 

Limestone, mica, asbestos, granite, soap- 
stone and allanite are found in paying quanti- 
ties and the iron ore is inexhaustible 

Thel^'ranklin and Pittsylvania railroad, and 
the Roanoke and Southern railroad, wiiich 
crosses the countj' from north to south fur^ 
nish ample facilities for transportation. 

HENRY. 

Henrj^ county is situated on the southern 
border of the State and is nearly a square of 
eighteen miles, containing 241,700 acres ap- 
praised at $1,265,572. with a population of 
18,208. The surface is undulating, in parts 
hilly, and there are some mountains. Smith 



05 

river and Mayo river with their mountain 
branches afford ample water power. The 
soil is fertile and the climate salubrious. It is 
fi fine grape county and all the cereals grow 
to perfection. The tobacco is celebrated for 
its fine quality. The grape, apple, peach, al- 
mond, apricot, nectarine and fig are grown 
extensively. 

Hematite and magnetic iron ore in immense 
beds, mica, soapstone, chalybeate and alum 
water are found in this county. 

The Danville and New River railroad crossed 
the county from east to west and the Roanoke 
and Southern runs through it from north to 
south. 

Lands sell from $5 to $25 per acre. 

PATRICK. 

This is the extreme south astern county of 
the Piedmont section. It l>orders on the 
North Carolina line, being separated from it 
by the Dan river. Until very recently it was 
cut off from the ^vorld, having no means of 
communication, except the ordin-ny dirt 
road. Its area is 277,219 acres, assessed at 
.1791,353, with a population of 14,147. The low 
price of the lands is due to the cause before 
mentioned and to the fact that 63 per cent, of 
the land is woodland. Large tracts have 
never been settled. 

The lands are watered by Smith's river, a 
large tributary to the Dan, and other 
streams. A part of this county is hilly or 
semi-mountainous, but there is a large 
plateau, called "The Meadows of Dan," which 
is well adapted to grass. 

The timber of this county is very abundant 
and of fine quality. The county is also famous 
for the apples, and the abundance of small 
fruits which grow wild. 

The minerals are iron, of the finest quality, 



66 

lead and silver. During the war this iron 
was worked by the Confederate Government. 
Recently the Danville and New River rail- 
road has been completed to Stuart, the 
county seat. This is the only village of note 
in the county. The countj- offers great in- 
ducements to settlers on account of the cheap 
lands and probable rapid growth. Large 
bodies of land can be bought at low figures, 
from f 3 to $8 per acre. 

FLOYD. 

This county- is situated in the southern part 
of the State and is thirty-eight miles long with 
a mean width of eighteen miles and an acre- 
age of 239,415, valued at $836,787. Population 
13,221. The surface is rolling, the soil fertile* 
and Avell adapted to the grains and grasses. 
The products are tobacco, wheat, corn, oats 
and hay. Many fine horses, mules, cattle, 
sheep and hogs are raised. 

The finer grades of tobacco are grown here 
and bring a considerable revenue to the 
county. 

It is watered by Little river and its many 
branches. This is an elevated and healthy 
region and possesses a delightful summer cli- 
mate. Fruit raising is profitable. The near- 
est railroad is the Norfolk & Western. Floyd 
C. H. is the county seat. 

The timber consists of white oak, red oak, 
black oak, chestnut oak, hickorj^, white ash, 
pine, walnut, dogwood, maple, black gum 
and chestnut. About one-half the area of the 
county is in original forest timber of the vari- 
eties named. 

Minerals are found in different localities — 
gold, iron, copper and ochre; also, a very fine 
quality of soapstone and asbestos, in large 
quantities. The copper ore is valuable. The 
soapstone is also valuable in the construction 



67 

of furnaces for smelting operations. The gold 
discoveries on Laurel creek are proving valu- 
able. 
Lands range from $3 to $20 per acre. 

CARROLL. 

Carroll county is situated on the southern 
bolder of the State; contains 355,731 acres, val- 
ued at $548,397 and has a population of 
13,323. The surface is broken and mountain- 
ous, but there are many rich valleys and fer- 
tile plains, and the hill lands and mountain 
sides afford grass and pasturage of the best 
description. The soil varies greatly in color 
and texture, is uniformiy fertile. 

Ihe productions are tobacco, wheat, corn 
oats, grass and fruits. Fruits are produced 
in great perfection here, especially the apple 
and grape. 

A large portion of the county is still in tim- 
ber of the original forest growth, consisting 
mostly of the oak and other hard wood trees. 
There are some very good bodies of white pine 
in the northwestern section of the county. 

New river and many of its large tributaries 
flow through the county, and furnish much 
valuable w^atei'-power. 

This region is very rich in minerals, consist- 
ing of iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, steatite, 
mica, etc. 

Parts of the county are noted for the growth 
of the cranberry. Hills ville is the county seat- 

Lands can be bought from .$2 to $15 per acre. 

GRAYSON. 

This county, situated on the Southern bor- 
der of the State, contains 351,645 acres, valued 
at $6,614,317. Population, 14,394. 

The climate is pleasant and healthy and the 
natural advantages are very great. New river 



68 

and its tributaries traverse the county and 
afford abundant water-power for all kinds of 
machinery. 

The western portion is mountainous, but its 
eastern and central parts lie in a fertile valley. 
Fruit raising is very profitable, and fine apples 
cind grapes are grown. 

Iron, mica, granite, asbestos, and steatite 
are found, also a bed of very rich copper ore. 

Yellow^ pine, white oak, chestnut oak, chest- 
nut, hickory, and maple timber are abund- 
ant. 

Many horses, cattle and sheep are raised in 
this county. 

The county seat is Independence. Lands sell 
from $3 to |8 per acre. 

SIXTH DISTRICT. 

W. W. Brand, Catawba, Roanoke County, Va. 

Six counties comprise this district, which ex- 
tends from the Valley of Virginia to the North 
Carolina line. 

MONTGOMERY. 

This county enjoys one of the most delight- 
ful climates in the State, and is a most desira- 
ble part of the great valley of Virginia, con- 
taining 239,032 acres and has a population of 
about 18,000. The soil is mostly rich limestone, 
and is especiall^^ adapted to grass, so thatgraz- 
ing and stock raising is very profitable, and is 
carried on extensively ; some of the finest herds 
of shorthorn cattle in the State are found 
here, sheep also do well. In the southern part 
of the county fine tobacco is raised and brings 
high prices. All kinds of fruit do well, and 
the apple crop is abundant and pays hand- 
somely. The minerals consist of iron, galena, 
zinc, copper, manganese, coal, slate, lime- 
stone, etc. Much of this mineral wealth is now 



69 

being developed and gives employmjent to cap- 
ital and labor; her industries are only in their 
infancy. Churches and schools are abundant. 
At Blacksburg, in this county, is situated 
the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which is 
doing an admirable work in educating the 
young men of the State. Land is compara- 
tively cheap and can be bought unimproved 
at from $5 to $15; improved lands from $15 to 
$30 per acre. This is a good county for invest- 
ments. Labor and capital are always wel- 
come here. 

ROANOKE. 

Roanoke county is situated west of the 
Blue Ridge mountains, and has an acreage 
of some 196,000, with a population of 
40,000 about one-fourtly of which is colored* 
The surface Is undulating, being divided 
into vallej^s and mountains. The val- 
leys are very productive, raising wheat, 
corn, rye, oats and all the cereals with to- 
bacco, particularly heavy shipijing tobacco. 
The mountainous parts are adapted to fine 
tobacco and fruits, especially apples; the Back 
Creek pippin has areputation almost national 
and its culture is beginning to be one of the 
leading industries of the county. Peaches, 
pears, and grapes succeed well. Cattle and 
sheep are raised extensively, a good part of 
the valley lands being set in grass and used 
for grazing especially in the northern part of 
the county. Catawba valley is peculiarly 
adapted to natural blue grass and large herds 
of cattle are raised there and sold annually to 
eastern feeders as well as to supply the local 
demand for beef in Roanoke and Salem. 
Sheep are profitably raised in the mountain- 
ous parts of the county but this industry is 
only in its infancy. 

The minerals are iron, manganese, slate. 



70 

limestone, zinc, barytes and marble. There 
are minei»al waters of great purity in abun- 
dance. All the woods peculiar to central Vir- 
ginia flourish here. Black walnut, yellow 
poplar, oak, chestnut, pine and hickory pre- 
dominate. 

This county has a splendid school organiza- 
tion, Eoanoke College is at Salem, the county 
seat, and Alleghany Institute, Hollins Insti- 
tute and Virginia Female College are at Roa- 
noke City. Churches are numerous and in- 
clude all the principal Evangelical denomina- 
tions. 

Salem has a population of some 6,000, and 
Roanoke City has a population of 20,000. 
These two towns furnish a good market for 
all kinds of produce. Lands can be bought 
for from $5 to $10; in the mountain sections 
from $20 to $50 per acre. 

BEDFORD. 

This is one of largest countries in the State, 
containing 492,990 acres with a population of 
25,000. It has as many diversified industries 
as any county in the State. The surface is 
broken and mountainous, but well watered 
by brooks and streams, nearly all the land 
being productive when properly cultivated. 
It produces fine crops of tobacco, cereals and 
all kinds of grasses and fruits being especially 
adapted in the mountainous parts to apples,, 
peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, etc. 
The Winesap and and Ben Davis apples are 
fine in this county. Blue grass is indigenous 
and affords fine grazing ; cattle do well and 
this is the natural home of the sheep, the 
winters being mild, since the western winds 
are broken by the Blue Ridge mountains. 
Fine light tobacco is grown here to perfec- 
tion . 

The minerals are iron, asbestos, slate, zinc. 



71 

kaolin, graphite, ochre, limestone, cement 
and sandstone, but are only partially de- 
veloped. The lumber industry is extensive; 
fine walnut, locust, poplar, the oaks and pine 
predominate. 

There are churches and schools in every 
neighborhood. The health of the county is 
excellent. The hotels and boarding houses 
-are filled in summer with people from the 
South. This county is susceptible of great de- 
velopment and nowhere in the State can im- 
migrants do better than here. Lands sell 
from $1 to $10 per acre. 

CAMPBELL. 

Campbell county including the city of Lynch- 
burg, has nearly 50,000 inhabitants, and her 
advantages for manufacturing equal any 
county in the Southern States. She has 
water power, iron, timber, etc., in abundance, 
and having four railroads centreing in Lynch- 
burg, gives her peculiar facilities over any 
other part of Virginia. The soil is fertile and 
particularly adapted to raising fine high 
grade tobacco, as well as grain and grass. 
Sheep do well and there is no county whose 
climate is better adapted to the profitable 
growth of both wool and mutton. Cattle do 
well and are jjrofitably raised. The produc- 
tions are wheat, rye, corn, oats, sorghum, 
vegetables of all kinds and fruit. Her peaches 
have a fine reputation for size and flavor and 
cannot be surpassed. Apples, pears, plums, 
cherries, grapes and the lesser fruits all grow 
well. Indeed her sunny hillsides seem espe- 
cially adapted to fruit-raising and with the 
proper effort this industry could be brought 
to a very high standard. 

Land is very cheap, selling from $4 to $20 
per acre, and considering her facilities for 
transportation, there is no county in the 



72 

State with better inducements to home- 
seekers, and in which a good home can be 
built up with a little money. 

HALIFAX. 

This, at one time, was one of the wealthiest 
counties in the State and there is much 
wealth and refinement still here, though 
many families lost heavily during the late 
■u^ar. It is a large county, having 516,961 
acres, with a population of 35,000. 

Tobacco raising is the chief industry, this 
being the home of bright rich wrappers and 
almost every farmer has his field of tobacco. 
The ijoorest land in the county along the 
ridges is a soft gray soil unsurpassed in the 
world for the growth of fine tobacco. The 
lands upon the principal streams are adapted 
to wheat, corn, rye, oats, clover, etc., and 
fine crops are raised. 

Potatoes, both Irish and sweet, and all 
kinds of vegetables are grown. Fruit, espe- 
cially peaches and nectarines grow finely and 
in some localities apples do well. This is an 
ideal county to live in, the climate being un- 
surpassed. 

Cattle, horses, sheep and hogs are raised in 
goodly numbers. 

Schools and churches of the various denom- 
inations are numerous and convenient. 

To a man with little money but with indus- 
try and thrift there is no county in the State 
where he can do better or find a -^^armer wel- 
come. Lands are cheap and sell from $5 to 
^30 per acre. 

CHARLOTTE. 

Charlotte county has an area of 297,927 acres, 
with a population of about 16,000. The soil is 
capable of high improvement. This county is the 



73 

liome of fine, high-priced shipping tobacco, and 
with proper cultivation pays well; the profit of 
one crop has frequently been made to pay three 
or four times the price of the land. Wheat, corn, 
rye, oats, all the vegetables and melons do well. 
Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries and grapes 
all grow to perfection. 

More than half the surface of the county is yet 
covered with the original forest; the chief varieties 
of wood are the white oak, post oak, poplar, pine> 
cedar, hickory, walnut, ash, wild cherry, maple, 
locust, etc., which makes lumbering a very profita- 
ble interest. 

Cattle, horses, hogs and sheep do well here, and 
are raised in quantities. The nuts and acorns in 
the forests frequently furnish enough food to 
fatten the hogs in the fall. 

Schools and churches are numerous and con- 
venient in almost every neighborhood. Lands 
can be bought from |2 to $25 per acre. 

SEVENTH DISTRICT. 

J. K. McCann, Stephenson, Frederick County. 
Virginia. 

This district comprises ten counties situated on 
both sides of the Blue Ridge mountains, all being 
the famous Shenandoah Valley with the exception 
of four counties. 

FREDERICK. 

This county is twenty miles long and about 
eighteen wide. It is the northernmost county of 
the State, and one of the finest of the famed Valley 
of Virginia and noted for its fine lands. It con- 
tains 278,169 acres with a population of 15,652 
whites, and 2,288 negroes. 

The surface is undulating and the soil produc- 
tive. Along the eastern line and running the en- 
tire length of the county is a belt of gray slate 
land from two to six miles wide west, and parallel 



74 

with this is a limestone belt from four to eight 
miles wide, west of this, and between ''Little 
North Mountain" and "Big North Mountain" is a 
valley of limestone land about six miles wide. 

The chief productions are wheat, corn, rye, 
buckwheat, oats and grass. Fruits succeed well, 
particularly apples and peaches. 

West of the North mountain the land is of gray 
slate which produces well. Some of the finest 
live stock is in this county. The timber in the 
limestone belt consists of oak, walnut, ash, locust 
and elm; on the slate lands, pine. 

Soil and climate combine to make this one of the 
richest and most healthful regions in the world, 
and it abounds in streams and springs of pure 
water. One of these springs, situated just out- 
side the city limits, affords to Winchester an 
abundant supply of water. 

Eock Enon Springs, west of North mountain 
and Jordan's White Sulphur Springs, five miles 
from Winchester, have an extended reputation for 
the beneficial effects of their waters. 

In the North mountain are extensive de- 
posits of iron ore, which has been successfully 
worked. Anthracite coal is found. 

The Valley Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio 
railroad runs through the county. The Cum- 
berland Valley railroad extends from Penn- 
sylvania to Winchester. 

Winchester is the county seat and has a 
population of nearly 6,000. There are several 
thriving villages including Middletown, 
Stephen City and Brucetown. 

The number of public schools are eighty- 
two white, seven colored, including a fine 
graded school. There is also an excellent 
male academy and three female schools under 
the direction of the Methodist, Presbyterian 
and Episcopal churches. 

There are thirty-seven flour mills; the 
largest has a capacity of 175 barrels per day. 



75 

There are seven woolen mills, several 
tanneries, one steam jjaper mill, one fertilizer 
factory, one sumac and bark mill, two iron 
founderies, a shoe factory, six glove factories, 
(the largest of which works from 200 to 30C 
hands), ten cigar factories, working from five 
to forty hands each, three box factories, 
several cabinet factories, one wheat-fan 
factory, one agricultural implement factory, 
several saw and planting mills, one glass 
cutting establishment, one steam laundry, 
one dyeing establishment and a number of 
minor industries . 

Winchester has four hotels, two banks 
(with a capital of $150,000>, and twelve 
churches. 

There are eight macadamized turnpikes 
running into Winchester. The public roads 
and turnpikes are better than those of most 
counties, and the spirit of the people is in 
favor of a good road system. 

Farms are worth from $20 to $75 per acre. 

CLARKE. 

Clarke county has an area of 109,173 acres and a 
population of 5,617 whites and 2,454 negroes. In 
proportion to its size it is one of the richest coun- 
ties in the State. 

The main portion lies between Opequon creek 
on the west and the Shenandoah river which flows 
through the eastern part of the county at the foot 
of the Blue Ridge. The soil of this portion is un- 
surpassed in fertility and is adapted to the growth 
of wheat, corn, oats, clover and timothy. Blue 
grass soon forms on uncultivated fields. 

The land east of the Shenandoah is mountainous 
and generally covered with timber of fine oak, 
chestnut, locust, cedar, hickory, and poplar, fur- 
nishing business for fifteen saw-mills. 

All fruits of this latitude are grown and many 
apples and peaches are shipped. 



76 

Large numbers of cattle and hogs are raised and 
sold in the Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York 
and Washington markets. 

A number of flour mills are located in the 
county. 

Limestone is obtainable on almost every farm. 
Iron ore is abundant and copper and lead are 
found. 

A branch of the Norfolk and Western railroad 
passes through the county, also the Valley Branch 
of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Five macad- 
amized turnpikes traverse the county. 

Berryville, situated on the Norfolk and West- 
ern, is the county seat and has a population of 
1,500. It has seven churches, a graded school, one 
bank, a number of mercantile establishments and 
one weekly newspaper. 

The other villages are Boyce, Millwood and 
White Post. 

Churches of various denominations are found 
throughout the county and twenty-five white and 
eleven colored schools. 

The farms are well improved with buildings and 
fences and are in a thorough state of cultivation. 
Sell from $20 to $50 per acre. The climate is very 
healthful. 

WARREN 

Contains 125,391 acres, with a population of 
7,016 whites and 1,264 negroes. It lies on the 
western slope of the Blue Ridge. The south fork 
of the Shenandoah river passes through its center. 
Water power is abundant. There are sixteen 
grain mills in the county. 

The soil is excellent and produces fine crops of 
grass, corn, wheat, oats, rye and buckwheat. 

Stock raising forms one of the most important in- 
dustries. Much care and attention is devoted to 
fruit growing. One of the oldest and largest vine- 
yards of the South is located here, and much fine 
wine is made. 



77 

The minerals are iron ore, copper, ochre, umber, 
limestone and maganese. 

Timber consists of walnut, hickory, cherry, oak, 
pine and poplar, and furnishes work for ten saw 
mills, a lumber manufacturing company and two 
bark mills. 

Transportation facilities are furnished by the 
Norfolk and Western and the Manassas Branch of 
the Southern railway. 

Front Royal, the county-seat, is a prosperous 
town of 1,600 inhabitants and has three large 
hotels, twenty stores, two banks and several fac- 
tories. 

There are good turnpikes and county roads and 
fine schools and all that is needed is plenty of cap- 
ital to develope the mines and improve the waste 
places. • 

Randolph- Macon Academy, under the direction 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, is situ- 
ated at Front Royal, There are 66 public white 
schools and S colored. There are 25 churches oc- 
cupied by six different denominations. 

Two weekly and monthly newspapers are pub- 
lished. 

The average temperature is about 53°; average 
rainfall about 45 inches. 

There are numerous mineral springs. 

Lands can be bought from $10 to $50 per acre. 

PAGE. 

Page county is a valley thirty-three miles long 
and eleven wide, with the Shenandoah river run- 
ning through it. It contains 174,572 acres with a 
population of 11,320 whites, and 1,772 negroes. 

The surface of this valley is gently undulating, 
rising gradually to the summit of the Blue Ridge 
on the east and Massanutten on the west. The 
soil is limestone of unsurpassed productiveness, 
admirably suited to grain and grass. 

Dairy and poultry products have largely in- 
creased and both are profitable. 



78 

There is valuable timber of these varieties: Oak, 
pine, locust, chestnut, walnut, ash, and poplar in 
abundance. 

The minerals are iron ore in vast quantities, 
ochre, manganese, copper, limestone, some of it 
maganesian and travertine marl. 

Aside from agricultural and a number of mills 
and manufactories of lumber and bark, several 
tanneries and leather works, fifteen saw-mills, 
about twenty-five grain mills and a number of 
mineral works. 

This county is traversed by the Norfolk and 
Western railroad. Lura^^ on this railroad, is the 
county-seat, and near it is a beautiful cave with 
an endless succession of extensive chambers, orna- 
mented with numerous stalactites and stalagmites. 
It attracts from ^11 parts of the world thousands of 
visitors. 

The average temperature of the county is 53°, 
the railfall 40 inches. 

Farms sell from $10 to $25 per acre. 

SHENANDOAH 

Has an area of 354,598 acres with a population 
of 18,829 whites and 842 negroes. The surface is 
rolling with some mountains and valleys of great 
fertility, admirably adapted to all the cereals and 
grasses. The uplands are fine for grazing, being 
natural for blue grass. The North Fork of the 
Shenandoah river traverses this county furnishing 
abundant water power. 

Much of the wheat is exported as flour. 

Minerals are iron, coal, manganese, galena, anti- 
mony, marble and limestone. The Columbia and 
Liberty furnaces make good pig-iron. There are 
valuable clays at Strasburg which are profitably 
utilized. Travertine marl of fine quality is found. 

Among the attractions are the Orkney, Shenan- 
doah Alum, and Burness' White Sulphur Springs, 
besides many mineral springs on the farms. 



79 

There are the following varieties of trees: Oak, 
walnut, hickory, pine, chestnut, ash, cedar, locust 
and elm. 

The Valley branch of the Baltimore and Ohio 
railroad terminates at Strasburg. The Southern 
passes through the county and connects with the 
Baltimore and Ohio at Strasburg. 

Woodstock is the county seat. New Market, 
Edinburg, Strasburg and Mount Jackson are enter- 
prising and thriftly small towns. At Strasburg 
there are a number of factories including porce- 
lain, pottery, etc. 

There are 115 public white schools and 4 col- 
ored. Churches are abundant of all denomina- 
tions. 

Average annual temperature 53°; rainfall 42 
inches. 

Lands sell from $10 to $50. 

ROCKINGHAM. 

Is the largest county in the State, having an area 
of 606,775 acres, with a populationof 28,485 whites, 
2,814 negroes. 

Every part is watered by the Shenandoah river 
and its tributaries. This is one of the largest grain 
and hay producing counties in the State and ex- 
ports large quantities of flour. 

It is peculiarly a grass and cattle region. 

The mineral wealth is considerable; iron, copper, 
lead, coal and limestone are abundant. Several 
varieties of marble exist and there are many quar- 
ries of stone and marble. 

Timber is abundant, consisting of oak, chestnut, 
pine, poplar, cedar and walnut, and gives employ- 
ment to fifty sawmills. 

Harrisonburg the county seat has a population 
of 4,000 and is the terminus of the Manassas 
Branch of the Southern railroad, running from 
Washington; also of a line of the Baltimore and 
Ohi^, running from Lexington, Virginia. The 



80 

Norfolk and Western also passes through this 
county. The Great Valley turnpike passes through 
the county and the public roads are as good as any 
of the Valley counties. 

Churches of all denominations are numerous. 
There 204 public white schools and 14 colored. 

Average annual temperature 38° degrees; rainfal 
3S inches. 

Lands can be bought from $5 to $50 per acre. 

ALBEMARLE 

Is thirty-five miles long and twenty wide. It has 
an area of 459,238 acres, with a population of 
18,252 whites and 14,127 negroes. 

It is mountainous and rolling. The soil is 
chiefly red clay. The western portion of the 
county lies in the Blue Ridge and the eastern in 
Midland Virginia, mainly in the noted Piedmont 
region. The James river flows along the south- 
eastern boandary and receives the Rockfish, Hard- 
ware and Rivanna rivers, which with their tribu- 
taries drain the county. 

It has a mild climate, being protected from the 
cold winds b}'' the Blue Ridge mountains, while in 
the f?ummer its elevations and proximity to the 
mountains renders it agreeable. 

The annual rainfall is about 45 inches. 

Iron, slate, soapstone, building stone, graphite, 
zinc and clay abound. The Albemarle Slate Com- 
pany employs about seventy-five persons in making 
slate-pencils. 

The timber consists of oak, chestnut, locust, pine, 
hickory, poplar, sycamore, maple, beech, walnut, 
gum and dogwood. 

The products are corn, oats, wheat, tobacco, 
grass and sorghum. Large sections are well 
adapted to dairying, grazing and sheep-raising. 
Fruit growing is an important industry, this being 
the home of the celebrated Albemarle pippin; and 
especial attention is given to grape culture and the 



81 

production of wine, over 100,000 gallons being 
produced annually. 

The educational advantages are unequalled in 
the State. Its free school system is of a very high 
order; there are 81 vrhite and 46 colored public 
schools. Also the Miller Manual Labor School at 
Crozet and the University of Virginia at Charlottes- 
ville, the county-seat, a town of 6,000 inhabi- 
tants. 

Scottsville is a thriving town and there are nu- 
merous villages. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio and the Southern rail-* 
roads have twenty-eight stations in the county. 
The dirt roads are unusually good. 

There is one large woolen mill, two knitting 
mills, about twenty flouring mills, besides a num- 
ber of grist and saw-mills. 

The newspapers are the Jeffersonian, Chronicle, 
and Republican, of Charlottesville, and the Scotts- 
ville Courier. 

There are eighty-five churches, embracing eight 
denominations. 

GREENE. 

This county is separated from Rockingham by the 
Blue Ridge, and has anarea of 107,016 acres, about 
42 per cent of this is woodland. A population of 
4,114 whites and 1,508 negroes. 

The surface is mountainous or hilly but the less 
elevated portions are fertile. It is watered by the 
Rapidan and its tributaries, and the headwaters of 
the Rivanna. 

Stock, especially sheep are profitably raised. 

Timber is abundant and consists of pine, oak, 

hickory, chestnut, walnut, and poplar. 
The minerals are copper and iron ore. 
The Southern railroad runs within a few miles 
of the eastern border of the county. There are 
eighteen grain mills and seven saw mills. 
Stanardsville is the county seat. 



82 

There are 24 white public schools and 7 colored, 
and twelve churches. 
The annual rainfall is about 42 inches. 
The lands sell from f to $ per acre. 

MADISON. 

Madison county is about thirty-three miles long 
and has an area of 224,740 acres, with a population 
of 6,260 whites, 3.965 negroes. 

It is an excellent grass and grain producing 
county, beside being admirably adapted to therais- 
. ing of fine tobacco and to fruit growing. Grape 
culture is a profitable industry, especially in that 
portion of the county bordering on Orange, as the 
land there is of a better quality owing to an ad- 
mixture of sand from the adjacent sand belt 
which renders it particularly adapted to the growth 
of this fruit. The Catawaba which is difficult to 
grow in many sections, does finel}^ here. 

Along the rivers and creeks are extensive and 
fertile bottom lands. 

The minerals are graphite, ochre, statite, iron 
(magnetic and hematite), and copper. 

Some of the important industries are dairy, one 
cheese factory, nine flouring mills, six grist mills, 
four furniture factories and four tanneries. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad passes near 
the northern boundary and the Southern passes 
near the eastern and the Norfolk and Western near 
the western. There is one macadamized road and 
the public roads are fairly good. 

There are 47 white schools and 23 colored, and 
35 churches in the county. 

Lands sell from f to $ per acre. 

RAPPAHANNOCK. 

Rappahannock county lies on the upper Rappa- 
hannock river which divides it from Fauquier 
county. Its area is 175,691 acres, of which about 
30 per cent, is woodland. Population, 5,863 whites; 
2,818 negroes. 



The surface is hilly and fine grazing land. It is 
"well watered by the Rappanannock river and its 
tributaries. Its lands are naturally fertile, pro- 
ducing fine crops of corn, wheat, oats, barley, etc. 

There is fine timber, consisting of oak, chestnut, 
pine, hickory, poplar and walnut. There are eight 
saw-mills. Large quantities of tan-bark have been 
taken from the mountain lands. Kaolin and iron 
are found. 

Washington is the county-seat; other villages are 
Flint Hill, Woodville, and Sperryville. At the 
latter place there is a large tannery, and there are^ 
many shops for the smaller mechanical indus- 
tries. 

There is one turnpike in the county, and public 
loads are fairly good. There are 39 white schools 
and 13 colored. 

Churches of the different denominations are scat- 
tered over the county. 

EIGHTH DISTRICT. 
O. E. HiNE, Vienna, Fairfax County, Virginia. 

This district, containing ten counties, is sepa- 
rated from West Virginia by the Blue Ridge 
mountains, from Maryland and the city of Wash- 
ington" by the Potomac river, and extends south- 
ward to the Rappahannock and Rapidan. 

With the exception of Orange and Louisa coun- 
ties the district is all a part of the six million acres 
granted by Charles the Second, King of England, 
to Lord Culpeper and others in 1671. This de- 
scended through Catherine, daughter of Lord Cul- 
peper, to her son Lord Thomas Fairfax. A princely 
heritage for a young man of twenty. 

In the ten counties of this district are found the 
distinctive characteristics of Piedmont, Middle 
and Tidewater, Virginia. It is one of the most 
prosperous districts devoted to general farming in 
the State, and contains an intelligent and thrifty 
population, with excellent school and church priv- 
ileges in nearly every community. 



84 
. ^j . LOUDOUN. 

This county is bounded*^y the Potomac on the 
North, Fairfax on the East, Prince William and 
Fauquier on the South and the Blue Ridge on the 
West. It contains 322,745 acres of the finest land 
in any one county in the State, with a population 
of 23,745. 

Grain and stock-raising are the chief interests 
and much attention is paid to improved breeds of 
horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. 

Recently the shipping of milk and cream to the 
city of Washington has been a growing industry. 
As a whole, it is the best farmed county in the 
State. The farmers are thrifty and prosperous and 
many of them wealthy. The thrift of the large 
number of Quakers who live in this county attracts 
general attention. 

Gold, silver, iron, copper, barytes, soapstone, hy- 
draulic lime and marble are found. 

Leesburg the county seat is a thriving town of 
1,650 inhabitants. 

The Washiugton and Ohio branch of the South- 
ern railway furnishes an outlet for the productions 
of this splendid country. 

Lands sell from $8 to $60 per acre. Good farms 
can be bought from $20 to $40 per acre. 

FAUQUIER. 

This is the next county south of Loudoun and has 
many similar characteristics. It contains 22,590 
inhabitants, and has an area of 413,697 acres, the 
greater part of which is good land. Large crops 
of grain and hay are produced and the blue grass 
pastures are not excelled by any in the State. 
Stock raising is the chief industry, and Fauquier 
beef and mutton are famous in the markets of Bal- 
timore and Philadelphia. 

Many fine saddle and carriage horses are sent to 
market. 

Forty grist mills and fifty sawmills grind the 



85 

grain and saw the lumber of tlie county. Several 
spoke mills and other small factories are in opera- 
tion and there is abundant water power for all 
kinds of manufacturing. 

Gold, iron, asbestos, barytes, and marble are 
found. 

Warrenton, ihe county seat, is a thrifty village 

of 1,500. 
The public schools are excellent, and Marshall 

Hall and Bethel academy have an excellent stand- 
ing. 

The Southern railway and its two branches 
traverse the county. 

Lands sell at from $5 to $50 per acre and good 
farms can be bought at from $15 to $30 per acre. 

CULPEPER 

Is separated from Fauquier by the Rappahan- 
nock and lies within the Piedmont region. Several 
detached mountains or spurs give this region a 
very picturesque and attractive appearance. 

It has a population of 13,185 and an area of 
237,635 acres, about one-third of which is in wood 
and timber. Red clay, chocolate and sandy soils 
prevail, procuring fine crops of wheat, corn, oats, 
grass and fruits, especially apples along the moun- 
tain slopes. 

Much attention is paid to stock-raising and the 
breeds of cattle, horses and hogs have been greatly 
improved since the war. 

Several small manufactories are engaged in mak- 
ing chairs, barrel staves, spokes, spools and shut- 
tle blocks. Numerous mills are scattered over the 
county along the water courses. 

There are 43 white and 30 colored schools. 

Lands sell from $5 to |40 per acre, and good 
farms can be bought from $15 to $30 per acre. 

ORANGE 

Is situated in the Piedmont region, on the south 
side of the Rapidan river and contains a popula- 



86 

tion of 12,804 and an area of 213,007 acres, of 
which the greater portion is excellent land. The 
surface is generally rolling, with some hills and 
mountains in the western part. 

Grain and stock-raising, with fruits, constitute 
the chief branches of farming. The famous Albe- 
marle pippin is at home in this county and much 
attention has been given to grapes and wine mak- 
ing. 

Gold, iron, limestone, marble, fire clay and as- 
bestos are found. 

The Southern, the Chesapeake and Ohio and the 
Fredricksburg railways traverse the county. 

Gordonsville is a thriving town of 1,000 inhabi- 
tants, while Orange, the county seat, contains 
500. 

Abundant water, fine grazing, and a great varie- 
ty of soils makethisone of the most desirable coun- 
ties for general farming. 

There are 40 white and 27 colored schools. 

Lands are worth from $4 to $40 per acre and 
average farms sell from |10 to $25 per acre. 

LOUISA. 

This county lies in middle Virginia, contains a 
population of 17,000 and has an area of 286,445 
acres. It is watered by the North and South 
Anna rivers and their tributaries, which furnish 
abundant water power. 

The surface is gently rolling and the soil is 
easily brought into a state of high cultivation. 
The famous Green Springs district in the western 
portion is highly productive and is supposed to be 
the bed of an ancient lake. 

Corn, wheat and oats are largely raised but to- 
bacco is the main money crop. Louisa has been 
justly famous for a century for high grades of to- 
bacco, and the superior manner of curing enables 
the highest price to be secured. 

Gold, iron, mica, soapstone, ochre, red and gray 
granite are found. 



87 

In addition to the public schools there are two 
flourishing academys. 

The Southern and the Chesapeake and Ohio 
railways afford railway facilities. 

Lands sell from $5 to $35 per acre in moderate 
sized farms. 

KING GEORGE. 

This county lies between the Potomac and Rap- 
pahannock rivers with a frontage of twenty miles 
on each river, contains a population of 6,641 
and an area of 111,676 acres. Both rivers are 
navigable and numerous landings on each afford 
cheap facilities for reaching Fredericksburg, Nor- 
folk, Baltimore and Washington. 

Along these rivers are many fine farms, and 
large crops of grain and vegetables are raised. 
Fruits of all kinds, especially the smaller varieties 
do well. Extensive marl beds are found, which 
afford a cheap and effective fertilizer. 

The rivers furnish an abundance of fish and 
water fowl. Rabbits, quail, pheasants and wild 
turkeys are numerous. 

There are 21 white and 14 colored schools. 

Lands are very cheap, often selling as low as $3 
or $4 per acre, and there are many fine old estates 
which have been neglected since the war, which 
may be bought for half their real value. 

STAFFORD. 

Stafford also extends from the Potomac river to 
the Rappahannock, and is like King George, 
which it joins, in general characteristics. It con- 
tains a population of 7,362 and an area of 163,908 
acres. The surface is rolling, and the soil with 
proper cultivation is capable of high improve- 
ment. 

Good crops of all kinds of grain are produced, 
but small fruits, vegetables and poultry are exten- 
sively raised for the Washington market. There 
are numerous evaporating establishments in the 
county. 



88 

Gold, iron, mica and sand-stone are found. The 
White House at Washington was built from white 
sand-stone from the Aquia creek. Large quantities 
of railroad ties, lumber and poplar wood for paper 
stock, are shipped. 

In addition to the excellent water transporta- 
tion facilities, the Alexandria and Fredericksburg 
railroad passes through the county. 

Land is cheap and farms fairly improved can be 
bought from $5 to fil5 per acre, 

PRINCE WILLIAM 

Extends from the Bull Run mountains on the 
north, to the Potomac river on the south, and has 
a population of 9,805, and an area of 220,685 acres. 
Most of the land is of good quality and produces 
under proper cultivation fine crops of grains, 
grasses and fruits. In the upper end of the county 
there are some fine blue grass lands and many 
cattle and sheep are raised. 

The Southern railway and its Harrisonburg 
branch and the Fredericksburg railway pass 
through the county and along the line of these 
roads considerable milk is shipped to Washing- 
ton. 

Gold, copper, barytes, slate, soapstone, brown- 
stone, limestone, marble and coal are found, and 
one slate and twobrownstone quarries are success- 
fully worked. 

Manassas, the county-seat, is a prosperous town 
of 600 inhabitants. Many Northern, Western and 
English families have settled in this county. 

Lands sell from $5 to $40 per acre, and good 
farms can be bought at from $12 to $30 per acre. 

FAIRFAX 

Was formed from Prince William in 1740 and 
is now separated from it by Bull Run. It is 
bounded by Loudoun county on the west and 
the Potomac river on the north. It contains 
a population of 16,655 and an area of 259,362 



89 

acres, nine- tenths of which is arable. A great 
variety of soils exist but all are capable of 
high cultivation. 

The chief products are corn, wheat, oats, 
rye, hay, fruits, vegetables, poultry raising 
and dairy products. The latter interest has 
enormously increased within recent years 
until over 4,000 gallons of milk and cream are 
shipped to Washington daily. On the Poto- 
mac are several extensive fisheries where 
great numbers of shad and herring are caught 
for market. 

The lands are divided into comparatively 
small farms, and are generally well improved 
by neat, tidy buildings, and many of them 
are in a high state of cultivation. 

Three steam and two electric railways con- 
nect this county with Washington and at- 
tract a considerable population to the numer- 
ous a-nd convenient suburbs in the county. 

Lands near Washington are high, but in the 
interior of the county, good farms can be 
bought, from $20 to |40 per acre. 

ALEXANDRIA. 

Alexandria county was ceded to the general 
government from Fairfax in 1789, and re-ceded to 
the State of Virginia in 1846, and organized as 
Alexandria county. It contains a population of 
17,907 and has an area of 20,288 acres, in the shape 
of a triangle with the hypothenuse on the Potomac 
river. It is situated opposite the city of Washing- 
ton and includes the city of Alexandria which has 
the finest harbor and wharf facilities of any place 
upon the Potomac. Ocean steamers of the largest 
draft land successfully at the wharves. 

Three steam and two electric railways traverse 
this county, making it accessible to the Capitol of 
the Nation, from any part of the county nearly 
every hour in the day. With such facilities for 



90 

quick communication and the markets at its door 
this little county has advantages that are not sur- 
passed. 

Dairying, market gardening, fruit raising, 
especially berries and the smaller fruits, poultry 
and bee-keeping are the chief farming indus- 
tries. 

Lands are higher than elsewhere in this district, 
varying from $25 per acre for unimproved land 
covered with brush to $100 and upwards for im- 
proved lands near the city. 

NINTH DISTRICT. 

H. C. Stuart, Elk Garden, Russell County, 
Virginia. 

This district contains fourteen counties. 

BLAND. 

Bland is a border county, touching West Vir- 
ginia. It is bounded South by Wythe and Pulaski; 
East by Giles; and West by Tazewell and Smyth 
counties. 

This county, while small and somewhat moun- 
tainous, has a considerable quantity of fine blue 
grass land where the grazing of cattle, horses and 
sheep is carried on extensively and successfully. 
The land produces good crops of corn, wheat, rye 
and oats. 

The timber is exceptionally fine, white oak, 
chestnut oak, and chestnut being found in almost 
every part of the county. There are also large 
quantities of white pine and other merchantable 
timber. 

This county is rich in minerals, especially iron 
ore and manganese, while there are also indica- 
tions of lead and zinc. 

There are a large number of mineral springs, 
some of which are liberally patronized during the 
summer season. 

The grazing lands range from $10 to |30 per 



91 

acre, according to location, fertility and general 
desirability. In other portions of the county, land 
is from $5 to $15 per acre. 

Seddon, the county-seat, is near the center. The 
nearest station is Wytheville, about twenty miles 
distant. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY 

Is the largest of the Southwestern counties and 
one of the largest and most populous in Virginia. 
It is situated on the extreme Southwestern border 
of the State, and is bounded on the South by Ten- 
nessee and North Carolina; on the east by Smyth; 
on the West by Scott, and on the North by Russell 
county. 

Iron ore exists in quantities, but the principal 
wealth of this county consists in salt and plaster, 
dividing, as it does with Smyth, the great basin 
Saltville. 

Washington is the least mountainous of any of 
the Southwestern counties. Its valleys are broad 
and easily cultivated and with a proper system of 
tillage are made very productive. 

Farming is carried on more largely than grazing, 
a large percentage of the area being devoted to 
corn, wheat, rye, oats, &c., while tobacco is grown 
extensively on the North side along the ranges of 
Poor Valley and Clinch Mountain. 

There are a number of towns and villages in this 
county which afford convenient markets for many 
small farm products. In these towns are located 
several colleges and other institutions of learning, 
both male and female, which afford exceptional 
advantages for education. 

Much farm land is for sale and can be bought at 
from $10 to $20 per acre. 

The county-seat is Abingdon, a town of about 
1,800 inhabitants immediately on the line of the 
Norfolk and Western railroad, fifteen miles from 
the city of Bristol. 



92 

WISE COUNTY 

Is situated in tlie great Cumberland Range and is 
bounded on the North by Kentucky, on the South 
by Scott, on the West by Lee and on the East by 
Dickinson counties. 

This county carries the greatest amount of valu- 
able bituminous and cannel coal to be found in 
any county in Virginia. 

In fact, there are few areas of like size to be 
found in the world of more value in this particular. 
This interest has been recently stimulated by the 
building of a railroad through the county. There 
are now large coal operations, and coke ovens are 
•being built in considerable numbers. The iudica- 
tione point to some of the largest collieries and 
coke plants in the United States. There are also 
large deposits of iron ore. 

Wise has an immense area of virgin forest com- 
posed of the finest timber, poplar and white oak 
predominating. 

The surface is hilly and mountainous, and the 
soil is sandy Farming is carried on in a limited 
manner, the principal crops being corn, wheat, rye 
and oats, most of which are consumed at home. 
The lands rate in value from $2 to $15 per acre. 
Much of it, however, could be bought for $5 per 
acre. 

The county-seat is Wise, located three miles 
from Norton, the terminus of the Clinch Valley 
Division of the Norfolk and Western railroad and 
the Louisville and Nashville railroad. 

WYTHE. 

Wythe is bounded on the north by Bland and 
Tazewell, on the south by Grayson, on the east by 
Pulaski and on the west by Smyth counties. 
Within these bounds may be considered to lie an 
extent and variety of mineral and agricultural 
lands which taken together are unsurpassed by the 
same area anywhere in the United States. 



93 

Alternating with eacli other on the south-side of 
the countj'' are wonderful deposits of iron ore, 
manganese, lead and zinc of extraordinary purity, 
while in the northern half of the county fine 
maganetic and brown ores are abundant. Lying 
between these great mineral belts are blue grass 
and farming lands of the highest order. All the 
minerals are being worked on a large scale at vari- 
ous points in the county, affording home markets 
for the small products of the farm. 

The lands of Wythe are divided about equally 
between grazing and farming, the eastern end of 
the county having large areas of grazing land, 
while the western part is largely devoted to small 
farming and trucking, which is carried on exten- 
sively, especially the raising of cabbage which has 
become one of the most important and successful 
branches of agriculture. 

Lands vary much in price, as they do in value, 
ranging all the way from $5 to |10 per acre for un- 
improved lands, up to $40 and $50 per acre for the 
best. 

The county seat is Wytheville, situated on the 
main line of the Norfolk and Western, and having 
a population of about 2,500. 

BUCHANAN. 

Buchanan is one of the extreme border counties 
of the State in the great plateau of the Cumber- 
land mountains, having Kentucky on the north and 
northwest and West Virginia on the east. 

This county is noted for its coal and timber. A 
larger area of fine forest, consisting of poplar, oak, 
ash, walnut and other valuable timber is found 
than in any other county in the State. 

It is claimed that this county produces the finest 
quality of yellow poplar in the United States. 
While considerble quantities of timber have been 
floated out to the Ohio river on the streams passing 
through this county, there are still immense quan- 
tities for sale at a figure which should be most in- 



94 

viting to persons engaged in the lumber "business 
Many of the poplar trees in this county measure 
from 13 to 18 feet in circumference, and the trunks 
are frequently sixty feet without a limb. Three 
large streams, capable of carrying timber, pass 
through the county, and the Ohio extension of the 
Norfolk and Western railroad passes along its 
border. 

The whole county is underlaid with bituminous 
coal of fine quality, the veins varying from three 
to six feet in thickness. 

The county being a mountainous plateau, cut 
by deep gorges, the land is steep though fertile. 
The soil is of a sandy nature and produces corn, 
oats, wheat and rye fairly well, and sweet potatoes 
almost to perfection. 

Land varies in price from $2 to $15 per acre. 

The county seat is Grundy, which is reached 
from Williamson, on the Ohio extension or from 
Eichlands on the Norfolk and Western. 

CRAIG 

Is bounded on the North by Alleghany, on 
the East by Botetourt, on the South by Roa- 
noke and on the West by Giles. 

It is the smallest in area of all the South- 
western counties, but by no means the least 
important. This county is highly favored in 
iron ore, some of the largest deposits to be 
found anywhere exist within its borders. 

The lands are usually fertile and well kept 
by a prosperous population. Some portions 
of the county are in the limestone formation, 
affording fine pasturage for all kinds of stock, 
while abundant crops of all sorts are easily 
produced. 

The county seat is Craig City, the t^^rminus 
of a short branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio 
railroad. 

The lands range in value from |5 to $25 per 
acre. 



95 
DICKINSON. 

Dickinson is a new county, lying between 
the counties of Buchanan and Wise. It is 
small and has almost the same resources and 
general features as Buchanan county. It is 
watered by Russell's fork of Sandy river 
which affords excellent means of floating out 
timber. To say that the forests equal in ex- 
tent, variety and value to those of Buchanan 
county is sufficient. 

Immense beds of fine bituminous coal are 
found; also fine deposits of splint and cannel 
coal. 

A railroad is projected to extend from 
Charleston, South Carolina to Chicago, pass- 
ing through the county, most of which has 
already been graded; some 250 miles in North 
and South Carolina are now in operation. 
When this is completed it will add greatly to 
the wealth of the county. 

The soil is sandj^ and produces corn, oats, 
rye, and sweet potatoes well, and grazes 
many cattle and sheep. 

Lands range in price from $2 to $15 per 
acre. 

Clintwood is the county-seat and can be 
reached from Cleveland, on the Norfolk and 
Western railroad. 

GILES 

Is situated on the border of Virginia. It is 
bounded on the north by West Virginia, on 
the west by Bland, east by Craig, and south by 
the counties of Montgomery and Pulaski, 
Virginia. 

The whole area is well watered by New 
river, a large stream flowing through the 
middle of the county from the south to the 
north. A large portion lies in the limestone 
belt and is valuable for grazing and farming 



96 

purposes. The cereal crops all grow well, 
while considerable herds of young cattle, are 
sold each year. 

This county abounds in iron ore and mag- 
anese in large quantities and of superior qual- 
ity. 

There is a considerable amount of good tim- 
ber, lying in large areas which is accessible to 
railroad transportation. 

The farming and grazing land varies in 
value from $10 to $30 per acre, while undevel- 
oped land may be bought at from $5 to $10 
per acre. 

The New Eiver division of the Norfolk and 
Western railroad passes entirely through this 
county. The county seat Pearisburg, is situ- 
ated on this line of railroad. 

LEE. 

Lee is the extreme southwest corner of Vir- 
ginia, having Tennessee on the south and 
Kentucky on the north and west, and is 
marked at its extreme western limit by the 
widely known Cumberland Gap. 

Situated as it is in this remote corner of the 
State is less known than any county of equal 
wealth and resources. It has been for many 
years considered one of the most fertile of all 
southwest counties. The broad and beautiful 
valleys which have been for many years culti- 
vated in corn, have of late been turned to 
grazing stock. The county is now rapidly 
coming to the front in the production of 
horses, sheep and young cattle. 

There are large areas of fertile soil in this county 
which are smooth and easily cultivated, and 
adapted to all the cereal crops and to blue grass. 

Agricultural lands in this county vary from $10 
to .f 40, per acre. Undeveloped lands may be had 
from $5 to $12 per acre. 



97 

This county is finely timbered and rich in min- 
erals, notably bituminous coal, which exists in 
large quantities, covering an area of 75 square 
miles. Iron ore is found in large quantities. 

Louisville and Nashville railroad passes through 
the county, and within six miles of Jonesville, the 
county seat, Pennington Gap being the nearest 
railroad station. 

PULASKI 

Is bounded on the north by Giles county, east by 
New river, south by Floyd county, and part of 
Carroll, west by the county of Wythe. 

Pulaski is one of the foremost counties in the 
State in Minerals and mineral development. Here 
are found immense deposits of iron ore in close 
situation to inexhaustible quantities of simi-an- 
thracite coal. This county also holds a part of 
the great zinc and lead basin which is developed 
to such value and extent in Wythe county, a few 
miles to the southwest. Several large iron fur- 
naces are in this county, and are now and have 
been, even through all the years of the recent de- 
pression in the iron trade, in constant and success- 
ful operation. Here are the largest zinc furnaces 
in the world. The product of these furnaces is 
the standard in the United States, as it is in a num- 
ber of European countries, for alloy in its silver 
mintage. There are other large public works in 
Pulaski; thus is afforded a most convenient and 
profitable home market for small farm products. 

Pulaski city, the county seat, is immediately on 
the Norfolk and Western railroad. 

The soil of the county is rich and produces all the 
cereals. It is considered one of the best grazing 
counties in the Southwest, producing fat cattle 
equal to any in the United States. Most of these 
find their way to the English market. 

Agricultural and grazing lands are held from 
$10 to $50 per acre, while undeveloped lands can 
be bought at from $5 to $15 per acre. 



98 
RUSSELL. 

Kussell is a large county, being about 34 
miles long from east to \\'est and about 18 
miles wide from north to south. It is bound- 
ed on the north by Buchanan, on the south 
by Washington, on the west by Scott and on 
the east by Tazewell county. 

That portion lying between the Clinch river 
and the top of Sandy Ridge is covered by a 
fine growth of timber and is underlaid with 
bituminous coal of superior quality. 

It is principally for its fine blue grass lands 
that this cc)unty is noted. Thegrass growing 
area is in the Limestone Belt, and the blue 
grass is spontaneous, and all lauds which 
have not been exhausted return I'eadily to 
sod. Fully two-thirds is embraced in the 
limestone formation and is now^ covered by 
blue grass sod. This county lies principally 
in parallel valleys divided bj^ low ranges of 
mountains or hills of great fertility. There is 
no land in the State of more value for grazing 
especially for raising the highest grade of fat 
cattle. As fine cattle as are shipped from 
American ports to England, and as many as 
from any other county in the State are raised 
in Russell. The grazing and feeding, not only 
of cattle but of horses, sheep and hogs is ex- 
tensively carried on, and the quality and 
breeding is exceptionally fine. 

All grain crops are grown but are consumed 
at home. The farming and grain lands sell 
from $15 to $50 per acre, while unimproved 
lands are bought at from $8 to $12 per acre. 

The county seat is Lebanon, six miles from 
Cleveland, a station on the Clinch Valley di- 
vision of the Norfolk and Western railroad. 

SCOTT. 

Scott county is bounded on the North by 
the counties of Wise and Lee; East by Russell 



99 

and Washington, and South and West by the 
State of Tennessee. 

On the North next to Wise county is found 
excellent bituminous coal, and iron ores are 
found in considerable quantity in various 
parts of the county, while marble of superior 
quality is abundant on the South side. 

The surface is hilly, although there are some 
fine farming lands along the Holston and 
Clinch rivers and there are some excellent blue 
grass lands on the Southern border of the 
county. Its mineral springs are valuable and 
its water power unlimited. The farming and 
grazing lands vary in value from $5 to $20 
per acre and other lands in the county can be 
bought for less. 

Gate City is the county seat, and is imme- 
diately on the line of the South Atlantic and 
Ohio Railroad, which extends from Bristol, 
Tennessee, to Big Stone Gap, Virginia. 

SMYTH COUNTY 

Is bounded on the North by Tazewell and 
Russell counties ; on the South by Grayson ; 
on the East by Wythe county ; and on the 
West by Washington. 

It is justly considered one of the richest, 
both in mineral resources and in fertility, of 
all the Southwestern counties. Besides her 
rich deposits of iron ore and manganese, she 
has within her borders one of the most valua- 
ble deposits of salt and gypsum to be found in 
the United States. Immense quantities of 
salt are manufactured at Saltville, while gyp- 
sum is being extensively mined. There is in 
operation at Saltville a large plant devoted 
to the manufacture of alkali, soda-ash, 
bleaching powder, &c., which was erected at 
a cost of 18,000,000, emi)loying a large amount 
of labor, thus affording an excellent home 
market for farm labor. 

L if a 



100 

The lands of Smyth are mainly in the lime- 
stone area and produce all the cereals. Con 
siderable livestock is raised and fattened each 
year for the European market. The farming 
and grazing lands range in value from $12 to 
per acre; unimproved lands from $5 to 
per acre. 

The county seat of Smyth is Marion, sit- 
uated immediately on the main line of the 
Norfolk and Western railroad. 

TAZEWELL COUNTY. 

Tazewell is bounded on the North and East by 
West Virginia; South by Smyth county and West 
by Russell. 

It is frequently spoken of as being the finest 
county in all respects to be found in the State of 
Virginia. In this county is situated a considerable 
of the area carrying the Pocahontas coal which 
has already earned a national and international 
reputation as a steam and coke coal. There are 
other large areas of coal and indications of large 
beds of iron ore. 

There are large forests of fine timber; but rich 
as this county is in other resources, she is richer 
still in the fertility and productiveness of her soil. 
Fully three-fourths of her territory is in the lime- 
stone belt as is her sister county, Russell, and pro- 
duces the cereals and blue grass quite as abun- 
dantly. 

Tazewell has perhaps the largest grazing capa- 
city of any of the Southwest Virginia counties, 
producing, on a large scale, export cattle of unsur- 
passed quality. The grazing and farm lands rate 
at from $15 to $50 per acre, while unimproved 
land may be bought at from $8.00 to $12.00 per 
acre. 

The county-seat is Tazewell, a thrifty and hand- 
some little town on the Clinch Valley Division of 
the Norfolk and Western railroad. 



101 

TENTH DISTRICT. 

J. R. Kemper, Fishersville, Augusta County, 
Virginia. 

This district is situated in the central wes- 
tern portion of the State on both sides of the 
Blue Ridge mountains, a considerable portion 
being in the great valley of Virginia. 

ATTGTTSTA 

Is chief among the counties of the great Shen- 
andoah Valley, second in size, containing 
1,000 square miles and has a population of 
nearly 40,000. The surface is mountainous on 
its eastern and western borders, being bound- 
ed hy the Blue Ridge on the east and the great 
North mountain on the west. The valley 
between these mountains is very fertile and 
well watered by the Shenandoah, North, 
South and Middle rivers and numerous small 
streams and springs. 

Augusta has a variety of soil, producing 
wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, all the the veg- 
etables, and the various grasses for hay and 
I)asturage. Has fine horses, cattle and sheep, 

The county is noted for its flouring mills, 
some of which have a capacity of five hundred 
barrels per day The county does not pro- 
duce enough wheat to run them all the time, 
consequently this is the best wheat market in 
the State. 

Butter, milk, and all the dairy products are 
produced in abundance, and there is still room 
for further expansion in this line. 

White and black oak are abundant and of 
fine quality, also hickory, chestnut, walnut, 
poplar, mai3le, locust, pine and cedar. 

Many minerals are found, such as iron, 
maganese, kaolin, marble, &c. 

There are many mineral springs which are 
well patronized. 



102 

The Chesapeake and Ohio, the Norfolk and 
Western, and the Valley branch of the Balti- 
more and Ohio traverse this county and 
afford ample facilities for marketing her many 
and valuable crops. Hay is produced exten- 
sively and some small stations on the C. & O. 
have shipped as much as 2,500 tons in a single 
season. 

Land can be bought at reasonable prices 
from $15 to $50 per acre. 

HIGHLAND. 

This mountain county lies on the West Virginia 
line, contains 264,911 acres with a population of 
5,352. 

The soil is chiefly limestone and produces fine 
crops of all the cereals and grasses, blue grass 
coming spontaneously. 

Grazing and the raising of horses, cattle, sheep 
and hogs, being the chief dependence of the 
farmers. 

Walnut, wild cherry and other valuable timber 
abounds, and more maple sugar is produced than 
in any other county in the State. The head waters 
of the Potomac and of streams flowing into the 
James find their headquarters here. 

Iron and other minerals abound. 

Monterey, the county seat, is on the Staunton 
and Parkersburg turnpike. 

liands are worth from $3 to $30 per acre. 

BATH 

Has an area of 500,157 acres, with a population of 
4 587 white and 3,827 colored. It is one of the 
border counties lying on both sides of the Warm 
Springs mountain, a spur of the Alleghanies. It 
is watered by the Jackson and Cowpasture rivers 
and their tributaries. 

The average crops taken one year with another 
but depending on their location are: Corn, 25 to 



103 

50 bushels per acre; wheat, 10 to 25 bushels; hay, 
] to 3 tons; oats, in good seasons, from 25 to 40 
bushels. 

Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, rasp- 
berries, strawberries and grapes, do finely. 

In addition to the cleared land which is tilled, 
there are many thousands of acres which has 
never been cleared which give a most excellent 
range for cattle and sheep, while in most seasons, 
the heavy crops of nuts, and mast affords very rich 
feed for hogs. During eight months of the year 
cattle, sheep and hogs are kept in the ranges and 
do better than on pasture land. Sheep raising is 
universally acknowledged to yield large profits. 
The lambs when they come from the ranges in 
September are placed on the Markets, averaging 
in weight from 80 to 100 pounds. The mutton 
raised on the ranges and pork produced, command 
higher prices than that otherwise produced, and 
there is always a good market for cattle, sheep and 
hogs. 

The county is traversed by an excellent system 
of dirt roads well built, well graded and well 
kept. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio railway skirts through 
the southeastern portion of the county, with a 
station at Millboro. 

A branch line of the same road enters the 
southern portion and runs to the Hot Springs. 

There are large and valuable deposits of iron 
ore, much of which has bfeen developed. There 
are a number of valuable deposits of manganese 
and marble and some coal. 

There are large bodies of white pine, oak, pop- 
lar, hickory, locust, cherry and some walnut. The 
chestnut oak bark for tanning purposes is an 
important industry. 

The public free schools are well conducted and 
are supplemented by a number of private schools. 
The religious denominations in this county are the 



104 

Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodist, Baptist, 
Dunkard and Catholic. 

Bath has long been famous for its numerous 
mineral springs to which invalids have resorted 
since the beginning of this century. The most 
widely known are the Warm, Hot, Healing, Bath, 
Alum, Millboro, Wallawhatoola and Bolar. Of 
these the Hot Springs are the most famous at 
which two magnificent hotels and one of the 
finest bath houses in the United States are among 
the improvements. The Hot Springs Company 
have spent $1,500,000, and are continually making 
improvements. The springs create a constant de- 
mand for labor and farm produce. 

Lands are worth from $3 to $30 per acre. 

ROCKBRIDGE 

is situated between the Blue Ridge and Alle- 
ghany mountains and named after the won- 
derful Natural Bridge, a natural rock arch 
two hundred feet high, across a small moun- 
tain stream. 

Soil chiefly limestone and very productive ; 
all kinds of grass do well and the fine grazing 
makes stock raising the chief farm industry. 
An abundance of fine timber is found, but the 
chief wealth is in mineral resources. Iron, 
tin, and hydraulic cement mines are success- 
fully worked. The Victory Iron furnace at 
Goshen is the largest in the State, producing 
150 tons of iron per day. Mineral springs 
abound and attract great numbers of visi- 
tors. The most noted of these springs are 
Rockbridge Alum, Wilson's White Sulphur, 
and Rockbridge Baths. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio, the Baltimore 
and Ohio and the Richmond and Alleghany 
railroads traverse the county. 

Lexington the county seat is a city of 4,000 
inhabitants and here are located the Virginia 



105 

Military Institute and the Washington and 
Lee University. There are 132 public schools in 
the county. 

Good farms sell from $20 to $60 per acre. 

ALLEGHANY 

Is a mountainous county, but contains some 
bea I »tiful valleys that are very fertile. Has an 
area of 431,782 acres and a population of 
9,283. 

It is watered by the Jackson and Cowpas- 
ture rivers which unite and form the James. 

Immense forests of timber still exist and 
many minerals abound. Iron furnaces at 
Clifton Forge, Low Moor and other places are 
turning out excellent iron at a low cost and 
furnish good markets for farm produce. 

Some tobacco is raised but the grains, 
grasses, fruits and vegetables constitute the 
chief farm staples. 

The Chesapeake and Ohio and the Richmond 
and Alleghany railroads traverse the county. 

Covington the county seat isa thrifty town 
and there are several other iron manufactur- 
ing towns. 

Average annual temperature 54°, rain fall 38 
inches. 

Lands can be bought from $1 to $150 per 
acre. 

BOTETOURT 

Lies between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany 
mountains and is one of the finest coun- 
ties of the James River valley, contains 
394,092 acres and has a population of 14,759, 
and is noted for its fine grass lands. 

The soil is largely disintegrated limestone 
and produces fine crops of wheat, corn, oats, 
tobacco and fruits of all kinds. 

Minerals abound, especially iron and coal 
and their location enables them to be easily 



106 

mined, while the proximity of hmestone ena- 
bles furnaces to turn out pig- iron at low cost. 
Several kinds of marble are found. 

There is plenty of oak, ash, hickory, poplar, 
tvalnut and pine timber. 

The Richmond and Alleghany, the Shenan- 
doah Valley and the Norfolk and Western 
railroads traverse the county. 

Fincastle and Buchanan are thriving towns 
and there are many villages throughout the 
county. 

Hollins Institute and 107 public schools fur- 
nish the best of educational advantages. 

Average temperature 57°, rainfall 39 inches. 

Lands can be bought from $3 to $50 i)er acre. 

AMHERST COUNTY 
Lies on the North bank of the James river and 
contains 300,013 acres with a population of 17,551. 
The alluvial lands of the river are well adapted to 
all kinds of grasses, grain and tobacco. The red 
clay lands of the spurs of the Blue Ridge and To- 
bacco Row mountains are especially adapted to 
fruits. The celebrated Alhemarle pippin thrives 
well. The cattle interest of the county is consid- 
erable as the lands are well adapted to grazing. 

The timber is oak, hickory, walnut, pine, chest- 
nut, poplar, cherry and locust. 

The minerals are varied and valuable. Deposits 
of magnetic, brown hematite, and specular iron ores 
are abundant. Copper, slate, pyrites, plumbago, 
ochre and mauganese are found. 

The Richmond and Alleghany, the Southern 
and the Norfolk and Western offer fine access to 
Lynchburg, Richmond, Washington and the North. 
Churches of every denomination are numerous and . 
schools abundant. 

The climate is mild and healthy and new comers 
will find a warm welcome extended to all desir- 
able settlers. The lands are cheap and those con- 
templating purchasing here will find an inviting 
field. 

Lands vary in price from $3 to $40 per acre. 

APPOMATOX COUNTY 
Adjoins Buckingham, Prince Edward, Charlotte 
and Campbell counties, and contains 203,697 acres, 
and a population of 9,589 It lies on the South 
bank of the James river and is well watered by 
the tributaries of that river, and by the Appomat- 
tox river and some of the tributaries of the Staun- 
ton river. 



107 

The surface is rolling and the chief crops are 
tobacco, grain and grass. The soil varies from a 
stiff red clay to a gray slate. 

Timber is abundant and consists of oak, hickory, 
walnut, chestnut, maple, &c. 

Gold, iron, copper, manganese, mica and as- 
bestos are found. 

The Norfolk and Western, and the Richmond 
and Alleghany railroads furnish ample transpor- 
tation. 

It has a healthy and pleasant climate and lands 
are cheap and productive. Monthly average tem- 
perature 56°. 

Lands sell from $3 to $40 per acre. 

CUMBERLAND COUNTY 

Is about thirty miles long and ten miles vride and 
contains 189,886 acres, with a population of 9,484. 
Is watered by the Appomatox, the James and 
Willis rivers. The Norfolk and Western runs 
through a portion of this county. The surface is 
undulating and the soil productive. 

The lands along the rivers are fertile and the 
climate healthy. Many inducements are offered to 
new settlers. 

The products are wheat, tobacco, corn and oats. 
Clover succeeds well here. The lands lie well for 
farming, and there is still much original growth of 
timber. 

A fine mineral spring has been recently discov- 
ered, from which within a few feet of each other, 
flow lithia, sulphur, chalybeate and magnesia 
waters. 

Sheep husbandry has been successfully followed 
and the flocks are remarkably healthy. 

Lands are worth from $3 to $30 per acre. 

BUCKINGHAM COUNTY 

Lies on the South bank of the James and contains 
S51,785 acres, with a population of 14,383. The 
surface is generally rolling, but there is a great 
quantity of level bottom land along the rivers. 
Soil generally of red clay of a slaty texture of good 
quality. 

The chief products are tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, 
rye and grasses. A large number of cattle are 
raised. 

For many years gold, iron and slate mines 
have been successfully worked. Barytes, as- 
bestos and limestone are found. 



108 



v^ 



The Richmond and Alleghany railroad 
passes through the county. 
Average temperature 57°; rainfall 40 inches. 
Lands sell from $2 to $80 per acre. 

FLU VAN A 

Lies on the north bank of the James, contains 
180,009 acres with a population of 9,508. Soil 
chiefly red clay and rotten gray granite, pro- 
ducing good crops of wheat, corn, oats, rye 
and tobacco. "Fluvana tobacco" is noted 
upon the market as among the best in the 
State. 

Many cattle and sheep are raised. 

Gold, iron, copper, slate, talc and asbestos 
are found. The "Tellurium" is the oldest 
gold mine in the State, and is still worked. 

Palmyra the county seat is a thriving village 
at the mouth of the Rivanna river, andhere is 
published The Bulletin, a weekly newspaper. 

There are fifty-three public schools. 

Lands sell from $3 to $30 per acre. 

NELSON 

Extends from the James river to the summit 
of the Blue Ridge and contains 288,127 acres 
and a population of 15,356. 

The surface is rolling soil generally redclay 
and produces fine crops of heavy tobacco, 
corn, wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat and the 
grasses. 

Large numbers of sheep and many cattle 
are raised, but tobacco is the chieif money 
crop of the farmers. 

The Albemarle pippin, the pilot, another 
famous apple, and a native of this county, 
flourish here. 

Nearly half of the county is in original tim- 
ber, white and yellow pine, oak, walnut, 
hickory and chestnut. 

C<>pper, garnet, ochre, kaolin, iron and 
maganese abound and mines of most of them 
have been extensively worked. 

The Southern and the Chesapeake and Ohio 
railroads traverse the county. 

Lovingston, a town of 300 inhabitants, is 
the county seat. 

There are several private and 98 public 
schools, and churches of the various denomi- 
nations throughout the county. 

Lands sell from $5 to $15 per acre. 



ABBREVIATED 



Hand-Book 



OF 



VIRGINIA 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 

1897. 



TAYLOII * TAYLOR PRINTING CO ) RICHMOND VA. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



